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DANIELBfEARIN&
:* NEWPORT R I ^
HAfWARD COLLEGEUBRAKY
GIFT' OF
DANIEL B FEARING
CLASS OF 1883 -•■ AM 1911
OF NEWPORT
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THIS BOOK rSNOTTti fit 50LD OR nXCHANGED
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LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES
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^
i'
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PRIDE OF THE THAMES.
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LIFE
ON THE
Upper Thames
BY
H. R. ROBERTSON
" It chancSd me one day beside the shorr
Of silver-strfsaming Tbamesis to be."
SPF.N8KK.
LONDON
VIRTUE, SPALDING, AND CO., 26, IVY LANE
PATERNOSTER ROW
187s
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Y szts.s^.iz
tWIVMOOHlNIUNMV
•ITT OF
MMMlim
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Uo-'.l.
TO MY FRIEND
PHILIP SOUTHBY
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CONTENTS.
^
CHAPTER PAGE
I. THE BOAT.PEOPLE i
n. POLLING THE WILLOWS 6
HL OSIER.CUTTING 15
IV. OSIER-PEELING 23
V. SPINNING FOR TROUT AT A WEIR 28
VI. WEIR WITH MOVABLE BRIDGE 39
VIL WEIR WITH FIXED BRIDGE 45
VHL OPENING A LOCK 51
IX. NET-MENDING 57
X. SHEEP- WASHING 63
XI. THE WRECK ASHORE 66
Xn. THE DIPPING-PLACE 73
Xin. THE FERRY 76
XrV. FEEDING DUCKS 83
XV. THE FORD 86
XVI. WATER-LILIES 93
XVn. PERCH-FISHING 99
XVni. CARRYING OVER AT A WEIR 102
XIX. CAMPING OUT 109
XX. BOYS BATHING 114
XXI. RUSH-CUTTING 121
XXn. BALLASTING < 127
XXHI. GUDGEON-FISHING 130
XXrV. BURROW-HURDLE 137
XXV. MOOR-HEN SHOOTING 140
XXVI. DIBBING FOR CHUB 146
XXVn. SWAN'S NEST 155
XXVIII. SWAN-HOPPING 161
XXIX. SHOOTING AN OTTER 167
XXX. PUTTING DOWN GRIG-WEELS 173
XXXI. EEL-BUCKS 176
XXXn. FLIGHT-SHOOTING 185
XXX m. FISHERMAN'S FIRESIDE 191
XXXIV. APPROACHING THE FOWL WITH STALKING-HORSE 194
XXXV. SHOOTING WITH STALKING-HORSE 202
XXXVI. BOAT-BUILDING 206
INDEX 212
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We rarely read a Preface^ so have written notu^
feeling with Emerson that everywhere ^^ the sentence
must also contain its own apology for being spokenP
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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
ENGRAVED BY W. J. PALMER,
FROM DRAWINGS ON WOOD BY H. R. ROBERTSON.
Pride of the Thames Frontispiece,
Common Reed (flower) — Arundo phragmites page i
Barge-horses Towing 5
White Willow— 5tf//jc <7/^tf 6
Polling the Willows 7
Jack Snipe — Scolopax gallinula 12
Osier-cutting 14
White Bryony — Bryonia dioica * . . . .15
Geese 20
Osier-peeling 22
Arrow-head — Sagittaria sagittifolia 23
Tally 25
^yidXloyf^— Hirundo rustica 27
Pendulous Sedge — Carexpendula 28
Spinning for Trout at a Weir 29
Kingfisher — Alcedo Ispida 36
Weir with Movable Bridge 38
Common Sedge (seed) — Carex riparia 39
Hovel for Barge-horses 42
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VMl LIST OF ILLUSTRATJONS.
PAGE
Weir with Fixed Bridge 44
Yellow-flag (seed) — Iris pseudacorus 45
Martins — Hirundo riparia 48
Opening a Lock 50
Dog-rose (leaves) — Rosa canina 51
Barge 54
Net-mending 56
Knap-weed — Centaur ea scdbiosa 57
Tike—RsoxZuaus 60
Sheep-washing . 62
Coltsfoot — ThissUago farfara 63
Sheep in 9iade 65
Hawthorn (berries) — Cratagus oxyacantha 66
The Wreck Ashore 67
Water-rats or Voles — Arvicola amphibia 70
The Dipping-place 72
Common Sedge (leaves) — Carex riparia 73
Wood-pigeons Drinking — Columba palumbus 75
Common Reed (leaves) — Arundo phragmites 76
The Ferry 77
Dab-chicks — Podiceps minor 80
Feeding Ducks 82
Dewberry — Rubus ccesius 83
Ducks Asleep 85
Creeping Cinquefoil — Potmtilla reptans Zd
The Ford 87
Cows in Water 90
Water-ulies 92
Amphibious Persicaria — Polygonum amphibium 93
Sedge-warblers — Sylvia pkragmUes 96
Perch-fishing 98
Summer Snowflake — Leucojum astivum 99
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• LIST VF ILLUSTRATIONS. ^ ix
PAGB
Dragon-flies loi
Rape — Brassica napus 102
Carrying Over at a Weir 103
Peewits — Vanelius crisiatus 106
Camping Out 108
Water-plantain — Alisma plantago 109
Water-rails — Rcdlus aquaticus , . iii
Reed-mace — lypha laitfolia 112
Boys Bathing 113
Frogs — Rana palustris 118
Rush-cutting 120
Bulrush — Scirpus lacustris 121
Rushes Drying 124
Ballasting 126
Alder — Alnus glutinosa 127
Water-wagtails — MotacUla Yarrdlii 129
Comfrey — Symphytum officinale 130
Gudgeon-fishing 131
Teal — Querqtiedula crecca 134
Burrow-hurdle 136
Shepherd's Purse — CapscUa bursa pastoris 137
Foot-bridge 139
Meadow-sweet — Spiraa ulmaria 140
MooR-HEN Shooting i^i
Moor-hens — Gallinula chloropus i^c
Butter-bur — TussUago petasites i^^
Deadly Nightshade — Soianum Dulcamara 146
DiBBiNG FOR Chub 147
Coots — Fulicaatra 152
Swan's Nest 154
Yellow-flag (flower) — Iris pseudacarus 155
Swans — Cygnus olor 158
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X LIST OF ILL USTRA TIONS.
PAGE
Swan-hopping . . i6o
Forget-me-not — Myosotis palustris i6i
Swans Asleep i^4
Shooting an Otter i66
Cock's-foot-grass — Dactylis glomerata 167
Otter — Lutra vulgaris 170
Putting Down Grig-weels 172
Ladies' Smock, or Cuc\iOO?iovftx—Cardaminepratensis 173
Heron — Ardea cinerea 175
Flowering Rush — Butomus umbellaius 176
Lowering Eel-bucks .-177
Eels — Anguilla acutirostris 182
Fught-shooting 184
Bind-weed, or Withy- wind — Convolvulus septum 185
Wild Ducks — Anas boschas 188
Fisherman's Fireside 190
Purple Willow-strife — Ly thrum salicaria 191
Nets Drying 193
Mare's-tail — Hippuris vulgaris 194
Approaching the Fowl with Stalking-horse 195
Widgeon — Anas Penelope 201
Wild Hop — Humulus lupulus 202
Shooting with Spalking-horse 203
Golden Plover — Charadrius pluvialis 205
Marsh-marigold — Caltha palustris 206
Boat-building 207
Sunk Barge 211
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LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES.
CHAPTER I.
THE BOAT-PEOPLE.
< And if» which Grod in Heaven forefend,
On us an alien foe descend,
The ancient stream has many a son
To fight and win as Alfred won ;
High deeds shall illustrate the shore,
And freedom shall be saved once more
On * Tamise ripe.*
Cholmely a. Leigh.
I HE name, Pride of the ThameSy which may be spelt out on the
barge we have sketched in our frontispiece, might not unrea-
sonably have been read as referring to the fair steerer herself
instead of her boat, though we fear that our pencil has done
/^ f ^ k ' her but scant justice. Perhaps the word "fair" is hardly
admissible when applied to a complexion of the dark but clear
red and brown, that the open air and sun have had their
own way with. It is colouring that defies description and simile, but which
Mr. Hook has so well suggested in his pictures of our bonny fisher-maidens
and their young brothers. We have used the word "barge" as being the most
familiar term; "canal-boat," "monkey-boat," and "wusser" are other names
for this description of craft ; but the people actually concerned always speak of
^ S B
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2 LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES.
it as a boat, and to what we ordinarily call a boat they apply the title of skiff,
without any reference to its particular build.
That the boat-people live in their boats, as is commonly said, is true in one
sense — ^that is, they are frequently for days, or a week or two, living entirely
on board ; but they resent the insinuation that they have no " come-from," to
use their own expression. They have their cottage or their room, as it may
be, and allude to that as "home/* Their abode is most commonly in the
parish in which their fathers and grandfathers lived before them, following the
same calling. The fact that in most cases they own the horse that draws the
barge, and that for the said horse they must take out a licence, would of itself
oblige them to acknowledge a fixed residence. In truth, with a difference,
they no more live in their boat than a gentleman does in his yacht. The
spotless neatness of the little cabin, and the last polish bestowed on the brass
fittings, are characteristics they frequently have in common with the pleasure-
yachts of our upper circles. It seems that only on the water can one learn
how brilliant a polish brass will take. In Holland certainly the same miracle
of polish is attained ; but then the whole country is but one degfree removed
from a vast dredging-barge^ — a barge that needs a good deal of baling out, too.
The exterior decoration of these boats is noticeable, and evinces the pride taken
in their appearance by the owners, who repaint them with the gayest colours
as often as they can afford to do so. On the outside of the cabin are painted
two or four landscapes (usually river-scenes), of which they are proud enough ;
and it is curious they invariably speak of them as " cuts." The one on the barge
in our frontispiece is faithftiUy copied, and shows a river in which the water
makes no attempt to find its own level, one side of the stream appearing many
feet higher than the other. The tree might stagger a botanist, but the whole
serves its first purpose as a cheerful decoration, which our more pretentious
art so frequently misses. The smartness of the cabin part of the barge is often
the more striking, from the fact that the load it bears is of a very opposite
character, as coal, which is perhaps the most common freight. Thirty tons is
about the average weight one boat is capable of carrying.
We have mentioned the fact that these boatmen pursue the same line of
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THE BOAT-PEOPLE. 3
life from generation to generation. From what cause we know not, but they
are remarkably exclusive, in daily life mixing as little as possible with the
villagers with whom they come in contact. They are a class apart, and have
an undisguised contempt for the ordinary rustic, chiefly, as far as we can
gather, from the fact of his clumsiness. They say, with some truth, that unless
a man is bom and bred to boating, he is never lissom enough. It may be
only the assumption of superiority usual with travelled men. In return, as is
but natural, they are disliked by the villagers, who class them with gipsies,
la3dng the blame on them for ducks' eggs missing, or damage done anywhere.
Their spirit of independence, amoimting to a general readiness to fight, is a
marked contrast to the opposite manners of the peasantry, especially noticed
by Oxford undei^graduates, between whom and the "bargees" there is an
old-standing hostility. A few families marry and intermarry, much in the
manner of an old Scotch clan. They have preserved by tradition the old-
fashioned belief in the medicinal value of many herbs that are now discarded
from the pharmacopoeia. By their travels they become acquainted with the
spots where the herbs are to be found, and occasionally collect them for sale
in the towns through which they pass. Agrimony, and what they call thousand-
leaved grass (probably yarrow), are the most in request. In reply to our ques-
tion as to what they were used for, we were always told, " to make tea of to
take when you're ill ;" we never heard anything more specific as regards their
application. When these remarks originally appeared in the Art-Journal^ we
had stated tansy, and not yarrow, to be what was probably meant by thousand-
leaved grass. However, the Lancet honoured our statement with some interesting
annotations, from which we extract the following: "The herb known as the
* thousand-leaved grass,' so much valued by the bargemen of the Thames, is
the well-known Achillea millefolium y common yarrow or milfoil. It was highly
valued by the ancients as a styptic vulnerary and astringent. John Grerard,
known as *01d Gerarde,' in his *Herbair of 1597, says: *The leaves of yarrow
doth close up wounds, and keepeth them from inflammation or fiery swelling.'
It is, in fact, one of the favourite remedies of the bargemen and common people
throughout England, Scotland, and Wales, and is applied by them universally.
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4 LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES.
externally as well as internally, for . almost every ailment to which they are
liable. The first-mentioned plant, agrimony [Agrtmonta Eupatorta\ has, like
many others of the Rosaceccy long been known to the villager, who, on account
of the tonic properties ascribed to it, sometimes makes it into an infusion or tea.
A soporific, too, it seems to be, if there be any truth in the quaint old lines —
< Quo so may not slepe wel
Take egrimoDye a £siyre del
And lay it under his head on njrth,
And it schall hym do slepe aryth.
For of his slepe schall he not waken
*Tyll it be Tro under his heed takyn.'
As to whether * thousand-leaved grass' is a popular synonym of the tansy
[Tanacetum vulgar e\ no mention is made by a good authority. Dr. Prior, in his
'Popular Names of British Plants;' but it is well known that the plant in
question, which, by the way, was once sold in the shops imder the name of
' Athanasia' — the Latin equivalent of the Grreek oBavwrla^ * immortality' — ^has long
been credited with peculiar medicinal (namely, anthelmintic) properties, forming
the principal ingredient in those * hellish boluses,' to use the language of Faust,
'tansies,' or tansy-puddings. Fearless of gout, and armed with such unpre-
tending herbal, the lusty bargee, floating down the busy river, shows hardly to
disadvantage in comparison with many a landed proprietor, past whose coimtry-
house he drifts — ^happy, shall we say, in the possession of a well-stocked medi-
cine-chest, and in the consciousness that the family medical attendant is at
his beck and call."
The common charge brought against the barge-people, that their language
is often unfit for ears polite, is, we must allow, too well grounded to be refiited.
Their customary style of expression is decidedly more energetic than elegant.
In palliation, we would ask our readers what would be thought of a country
gentleman of the present day who should talk as Squire Western did ? And
bearing in mind how the class we are speaking of has kept to its own circle
for generations, we can account for their retaining language which may be
partly set down as the fault of a past age, with which they have so much in
common.
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THE BOAT-PEOPLE^ S
That the boat-people are decreasing — in other words, that the barge traffic
is declining — is discussed at some length in our remarks concerning the inland
navigation. It is in the chapters devoted to the consideration of the locks and
weirs that the boat traffic is thus incidentally referred to.
In this place, it may be as well to explain that the district known as the
"Upper Thames" extends from the London stone near Staines upwards as
far towards its source as the river is navigable. This stone, till lately, marked
the distance at which the jurisdiction of the metropolis ended ; at the present
time the Thames Conservancy has the management throughout. The views
selected for our landscape backgrounds have been chosen as accessory to the
figfures, and without any intention of topographical illustration. It is hoped^
however, that they may be recognised as careful studies of characteristic
Thames scenery.
BargC'horses towing.
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CHAPTER 11.
POLLING THE WILLOWS.
'<.... Water-wooing willows."— Denis Maca&tht.
*ROM the fact of the willow being found over a larger range
of the earth's surface than any other woody plant, it has
resulted that this tree has perhaps an interest to man beyond
all trees of the forest. It flourishes amongst the luxuriant
vegetation of the tropics, and in the desolate regions of the
frigid zone is the very last to succumb to "the killing frost."
Its frequent association with the water-side has doubtless
had much to do with its obtaining favour from all — especially the poets,
who have always held it in tender regard. In that grand poem, the book of
Job, these trees are alluded to as "willows of the brook," and by Isaiah
as "willows by the water-courses." The beautiful passage in the Psalms
referring to the Babylonish captivity, in which the willow occurs, has linked
this tree to human sentiment for ever.
The suggestion of melancholy attaching to the willow has been further
increased by two or three passages in Shakspere's plays. Desdemona, when
she has some forebodings of her own fate, says, recalling that of her mother's
maid, Barbara, —
'< She bad a soDg of ' willow/
An old thing 'twas, but it expressed her fortune.
And she died singing it : that song to-night
Will not go fix>m my mind."
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POLLING THE WILLOWS.
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POLLING THE WILLOWS. 9
She then sings snatches of it, with the refrain —
'< Sing all a green willow must be my garland."
The spot at which Ophelia meets her death is thus described —
'< There is a willow grows ascannt the brook.
That shows his hoar leaves on the glassy stream.
• • • • •
There on the pendent boughs her coronet weeds
Clambering to hang, an envious sliver broke ;
When down her weedy trophies, and herself,
Fell in the weeping brook."
The epithet "hoar" applied to the leaves is particularly just in the position
referred to in this passage : the tmder side of the leaf, which would be the part
reflected, being in most species very white compared with the upper.
There has always been much confusion with reference to the different
species and varieties of this widely-spread plant : a fact which comes promi-
nently into notice in the matter of the cultivation of the osier, and is referred
to by us at some length in our next chapter.
All the willows may be easily propagated by cuttings or sets either in the
spring or autumn, but the spring should be preferred. They are of quick
growth:* those which grow to be large trees, and are cultivated for their
timber, are generally planted from sets, which are from seven to nine feet
long ; these are sharpened at their larger end, and thrust into the ground two
feet and a half deep by the sides of ditches and banks, where the ground is
suitable. This is the usual method now practised in most parts of England
where the trees are cultivated, as they are generally intended for present
profit ; but if they are designed for large trees, or are cultivated for their wood,
they should be planted in a different manner; for those which are planted from
sets of seven or eight feet fong, always send out a number of branches towards
the top, which spread and form large heads fit for lopping. In this case their
principal stem never advances in height: therefore, where fine tall trees are
desired, they shquld be propagated by short young branches, which should be
* Their Latin name, Sdlix^ is an allusion to their springing up quickly.
• *• t
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10 LIFE ON THE; UPPER THAMES.
put almost their whole length in the ground, leaving but two, or at most three,
buds Uncovered. When they have made one year's growth, all shoots except
the strongest and best situated should be cut off: this shoot must be trained up
to a stem, and treated in the same way as timber-trees. Willows grow freely
on the slopes or tops of exposed hills ; indeed there are few situations in ffh^ch
they will not grow, but in no place so badly as in water-logged land. They
thrive best in well-drained rich loam, but they will grow in any soil except
pure peat. We learn from Mr. Scaling that the dense smoke of a town does
not materially interfere with the healthy growth of these trees, and he adduces
the public park of Glasgow as an instance. All the varieties of tree willows
grow better and more vigorously from cuttings than from rooted plants.
As a screen or nurse to young plantations in bleak or exposed situations,
the willow is perhaps the most useful plant we possess. One of the essentials
in a nurse-tree for young plantations is quickness of growth, and, with the
exception of the poplar, no tree can compare with the willow in this respect.
For the game covert it has no rival so easily reared, and at the same time so
effective and profitable. In some parts of the country the bitter willow has
been adopted in preference to thorn for hedges, not only on account of its
more rapid growth, but also because it produces a crop of twigs that is of
considerable value. This variety is also frequently planted for plaiting into
close low fences for the exclusion of hares and rabbits, the bark and leaves
being so extremely bitter that these animals will scarcely ever touch them. ^ j
Occasionally, when hard pressed for food, they may do so, but never to such
an extent as to cause material injury to the plant. As the shoots are long,
tough, and pliable, they may be formed into any shape ; and a fence of this
kind is reckoned little inferior to that of wire. This species is well adapted
for planting in ornamental shrubberies, from the elegant slendemess of its
twigs during winter, the redness of its catkins (the anthers being of that colour
before they burst), and the fine purplish hue of its young shoots and leaves.
There are great tracts of land in England fit for willow cultivation, which at
presont produce little to the owners, and which might, by being planted with
these trees, be turned to as good an account as the best corn-land.
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POLLING THE WILLOWS. n
From one of the Roxburghe ballads* we learn that the willow had a
symbolic use, by which one ship made known its quality to another — •
<* Set up withal a urillow wand,
That merchant-like I may pass by."
The industrial uses of the willow, f including the sallow and osier, are thus
minutely described by the venerable Evelyn : " All kinds of basket-work, for
which even our rude forefathers were held in estimation at Rome.J The wood
is used for pill-boxes, cart saddle-trees, gun-stocks, and half-pikes ; harrows,
shoemakers' lasts, heels, clogs for pattens, forks, haymakers' rakes (especially the
teeth), perches, rafters for hovels, ladders, poles for hop-vines and kidney-beans ;
to make hurdles, sieves, lattices ; for the turners in making great platters, small
casks and vessels to hold verjuice ; for pales, fruit-baskets, cans, hives, trenchers,
trays, boards for whetting table-knives, particularly for painters' scriblets, bavin,
and excellent sweet firing without smoke." We are not acquainted with the
term "painters' scriblet," but fancy it may mean charcoal for rough sketching,
the best of which is now made from this wood.
Whenever it can be obtained, this wood is used for the floats of paddle-
steamers and the strouds of water-wheels. It was always used by the powder
manufacturers for charcoal in preference to other woods, and was only discon-
tinued from the insufficiency of the supply. Willows support the banks of
rivers, feed the bees, yield abundance of firewood, drain marshy soils, feed
cattle with their leaves, and in their bark ftimish man with a medicine for the
ague — a disease particularly prevalent in the marshy localities where these
trees abound.
The bark and leaves of the willow are astringent, and the bark of most
sorts may be used for tanning; it is a fact worth noticing that the tanners
of Norway and Russia use willow in preference to oak bark, and to this is
attributed much of the excellence of Russian leather.
* Lord Howard and the Scotch pirate Barton. f See « Green*s Universal Herbal/' i8ao.
X ** Barbara depictis veni bascanda Britannis ;
Sed me jam mavult dicere Roma suam." — Martial, lib. xiv. Epig 99.
« Adde et bascaudas, et miUe escaria."— Juvenal, Sat. xii. v. 46.
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12
LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES.
A complete list of the uses of this plant — ^from coracles to cricket-bats —
would be interesting, but space will not permit us to pursue this branch of our
subject further.
The polling, which we have portrayed in our illustration, takes place about
every seventh year, the middle of the winter being the time of the year most
proper for this operation. The trees, when they have thus had their branches
lopped o£F, are termed pollards. By many people they are considered at all
times unpicturesque— a view we personally do not share. On the contrary,
they seem to us to harmonise perfectly with the gentle current of the Thames,
its lazy barges, and smooth, low-lying meadows.
Jack Snipe.
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CHAPTER III.
OSIER-CUTTING.
''By the rnshy fringed bank,
Where grows the willow and the osier dank."
Milton's Omus.
I SIER-CUTTING, which on the Thames usually takes place in
March, is not unfrequently alluded to as the first harvest of
the year. The expression seems hardly a correct one, as it
is the growth of the preceding year that is not harvested,
like other crops, in the autumn, but is left till the following
spring; it might rather be regarded as the latest harvest
of the year; at all events, it is a case that illustrates the
proverb, ^* Extremes meet."
The designation " osier" is applied to various species and varieties of willow
used for basket-making, but more especially to the Salix vimtnalis^ or common
osier, and its varieties. By those concerned in the cultivation of the osiers,
or in their subsequent application to industrial purposes, they are invariably
spoken of as " rods." The beds of osiers are called holts or hams, the small
islands and irregfular plots of ground by the water being chiefly set apart
for their growth. An island on the Thames is commonly termed an eyof
* The name Salix viminalis has been frequently objected to on the ground that the plant, instead of being
what its name implies, is really one of the least twiggy of willows. We think, however, it more probably owes
its name to the fact that it is only cnltivated for the sake of the rods, or twigs^ of one year's growth.
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i6 LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES.
(variously spelt ait and aight\ a word we imagine to be derived from
** islet."
The simplest way by which the whole of the osier class may be distinguished
from any other willow is by noting the fact that, in certain stages of their
growth, they have their leaves nearly opposite, this being the case with no
other class of willows. The leaves of all osiers are very long and narrow,
widest at the base, slightly toothed at the edges, smooth above and hairy
below.
It is curious to observe the action of light upon the shoots at different times.
The proper colour of the common osier is said to be a yellowish brown, instead
of which it is often a dull green. Certain varieties will in clear seasons be of
a bright cherry colour, which in cloudy seasons deepen to a dark mahogany
red.
The whole area under this particular cultivation in Great Britain and
Ireland is estimated at little more than seven thousand acres, and the quantity
grown is by no means adequate to the demand. Consequently, for much of
our supply we are indebted to France, Belgium, and Holland. The last-named
country supplies the inferior and cheaper sorts, mostly used by coopers for
their hoops.
Much confusion exists with regard to the names of the species and varieties
of the SaliXy and a long list is given in Morton's "Encyclopaedia of Agri-
culture"* under this head. The subject of the classification of this plant is
now receiving much attention, and an endeavour to rescue it from its all but
hopeless condition is being made by Mr. Scaling, of Basford, one of the
greatest willow-growers in the country. He has issued two of a series of
papers on the subject, and gives some interesting particulars as to the diffi-
culties of the task. For instance, he mentions two species that are identical,
both as to flower and leaf, in the spring, but which differ widely at the end
of the season. He tells us that "willows taken from the Alps and planted
into gardens, so completely change their character and aspect, as not to be
recognisable for the same species. Nor is the rule of naming them from colour
* Much of our infonnation on these subjects is from this source.
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OSIER-CUTTING. 17
any more certain method. Those known as the red willow, the grey or ash-
coloured, the golden, the black, and the purple, are so changed as to colour
by va3rring soil and situation as frequently to be mistaken for other plants."
Reference to the Botanical Gardens at Kew, Regent's Park, Wobum, Edin-
burgh, and Brussels, shows the same species labelled with a different name
at each place. We hope Mr. Scaling may be as successful in carrying out his
proposed new classification as he has been in demonstrating the absolute
necessity for a new basis of operations. On our asking one of the men we
have sketched cutting the osiers, which sort or kind was the best, he replied
in a somewhat mystifying manner, " You see, sir, some sorts is kind and some
isn't." We did not seey and with difficulty got him to explain that the term
"kind" is used to characterise a rod that is both tough and pliant, and is
consequently suitable for basket-making. Personally, he inclined to favour
the variety he spoke of as "silver-eyed." We may mention that at present
there are more than three hundred named species or varieties.
One of the first things to be observed in forming an osier plantation is to
drain it of all stagnant or surplus water, as, contrary to a widely-spread opinion,
no basket willows will arrive at perfection in land saturated with moisture.
It must also be well pulverised to a depth of twelve or thirteen inches, and
thoroughly cleared of weeds ; and, if poor, well manured before planting.
Willow crops, like com or root crops, are subject to many diseases; and
it will appear strange to those who have been accustomed to consider the
willow as a thing requiring no attention, to be told that it is subject to as
many diseases as a crop of turnips, and requires as much care, to be grown
successfully. The AphtSy or smother-fly, is a great pest to all the sweet-scented
or soft-wooded willows, known to basket-makers under the term of soft sorts,
or osiers. S. holosericea suffers more than any other variety, hence the great
uncertainty of obtaining a good crop from this willow; for as a productive
yield seldom occurs above once in three years, it renders it the least remune-
rative sort of basket willow gprown, notwithstanding its good qualities and the
great value of a good crop when obtained. Isolated cases of extraordinary
crops of this variety have been made public, and the extreme risk being kept
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1 8 LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES.
out of sight, has caused a "nine days' wonder" at the great profits of willow-
growing. With proper care, willow-growing will pay quite as well as any
crop usually grown in this cotmtry, and land, of little value for ordinary culture,
can be made remunerative by this means. The weeding of the osier-beds is
a very necessary part of their cultivation, and is regularly performed three (in
some places four) times a year. The most troublesome weeds to get rid of
are the beth-wind, or withy-wind, and the clivers.* Should the beds be sub-
merged any considerable time by floods, they require to be thoroughly "birched"
afterwards. Water-rats are very destructive to this crop in some seasons. On
one occasion, in rowing past a ham, we noticed all the twigs round a stump
gnawed off so neatly by them that we informed the owner that thieves had
been cutting his rods. He at once accompanied us to the spot, when he
said directly, " Rats ;" and a close inspection of the trunk discovered traces
of their teeth, instead of the clean cut of the reaping-hook. From our own
observation, we should be inclined to say that the number of the water-rats
on the upper part of the Thames is increasing pretty steadily every year.
" The osier-cutters were up with the lark ; and while the morning dew hung
like pearls upon the graceful willows, did they march with hooks in their
hands ; and taking stock by stock, and row by row, level all their new-budding
and leafy honours with the ground; and laying bare many a half-finished
bird's-nest, which was before shrouded by its tall tuft of nodding osiers. What
a gap have they already made, through ground so thickly planted, that, an
hour before, the eye could not penetrate many feet from the foot-path! And
those tall osiers, many of them from ten to twelve, and even fifteen feet high,
are but the growth of a single year. Twelve months ago, and those stocks or
stems, standing but a foot high, were as round and naked as those which
were this morning cut; and yet many of them have borne scores of osiers,
not a few of which measure the ftdl length we have stated. Osier-cutting is
the hardest work — stooping fi-om morning until night, and bending down the
tall-headed willows with one hand, whilst the other wields the ponderous and
* Convolvulus sepium and Galium aparine : the latter is used to feed young geese, and is hence known
as goose-grass.
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OSIER'CUTTING. 19
sharp-edged hook, a cut from which will never be forgotten, should it glance
from the stock and alight upon either leg or arm."
The above animated description of this employment is quoted from Miller's
" Pictures of Country Life," a pleasantly written book, " tasting of Flora and
the cotmtry green," and worthy to be placed on the same shelf as " Our Village."
It is from the Trent that he writes, where, it seems, cutting takes place later
than on the Thames. There are some differences in the after-processes of the
two localities, that we intend to allude to in the next chapter.
The manner in which the rods are held between the legs while others are
being cut is curious, and the same method is in use in other parts of the
country. The tightening of the bolts before tying them is called winching,
and may be seen in our illustration : two stout pieces of wood are used which
are called the levers, and are connected by a strong cord passed roxmd the
bolt.
After cutting, the osiers require to be separated into the various sorts and
sizes for basket-making, the long and thick from the short and small, and the
rough from the smooth. The names for the different sized rods when sorted
are Luke, Threepenny, Middleborough, and Grreat. Those which are spoilt by
lateral shoots are put aside by themselves under the title of Ragged or Rough.
The same names obtain on the Trent as with us. The derivation of the word
Luke has puzzled us; it is applied to the smallest size worth tying up. The
persons concerned in the industry could offer no reasonable explanation of the
term ; however, we were referred by a friend to Cockerham's Dictionary, where
the word occurs with the meaning, "little — as luke-warm, luke-hearted." We
should much like to know whether it is ever used by itself with reference to
anything other than the osier. A bolt of the size known as Threepenny is
now worth about fifteen pence : its old name has been retained in spite of
the change of the money value that has taken place by the lapse of time.
The sorting done, those that are intended for brown baskets, or to be peeled
buff, are to be laid up and careftilly dried and stacked. If they are laid too
closely together when green, they are liable to become heated, like hay, and
then they are useless for basket-making, as the heated parts, when dried, decay
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20
LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES.
and somewhat resemble touchwood; and the result is the same if, after they
are dried, rain should penetrate the stack so as to wet them.
In the South and West of England these rods are sold by the girth (in bolts
of forty inches round) ; throughout the whole of the North of England and
Scotland, by weight. As all the finer and harder kinds of willows are much
heavier for the same bidk, a fine crop of the best varieties of moderate size will
often weigh as much as a crop apparently larger. There is a great difference
in price between a really good sort and a common kind.
ii^s.^u
Geese.
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pa
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CHAPTER IV.
OSIER-PEELING.
" . . . . twigges sallow, red
And green eke, and some were white
Such as men to the cages twight."
Chaucer's House of Fame,
<HOSE rods that are intended for making white baskets require
to have the bark taken oflF in the following manner. After
being sorted, they are placed upright in wide and shallow
trenches, called pits, with their butt-ends in water, which
should be at least six inches deep. In some parts of the
country a rivulet with a gravelly bottom is frequently chosen
for the purpose. In this position they are made secure by
posts and rails, so as not to be disturbed by the wind. In the spring, when
the sap rises, they begin to bud and blossom as if they had been planted in
the ground. By the end of April or beginning of May they will be found
throwing out leaves and starting fresh roots. The sap is then sufficiently raised
to admit of the removal of the bark from the rod, by drawing it through an
instrument called a breaks which, by pressure, causes the bark to burst and to
separate from the rod. On the banks of the Thames the break is now always
made of wrought iron, and is used by the person standing in the manner
shown in our drawing. In Mr. Miller's account of the process he describes the
breaker as seated with a wooden break between his knees, a method still
occasionally employed on the Trent and other rivers. Mr. Scaling has
D
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24 LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES.
informed me that he has his iron breaks faced with india-rubber, and that they
are thus rendered much more effectual, the tenderest willows being secured
from injury.
In cold, unseasonable weather there is some difficulty in performing this
operation properly, for the cold checks the flow of sap, so that by no effort
can the bark be separated entirely. A thin under-layer remains attached to
the rod, and this causes a brown, discoloured appearance, which very much
reduces it in value. In order to avoid this, the process of couching is some-
times resorted to : the rods are laid down in a sheltered spot, well watered,
and a large quantity of straw or farmyard refuse is laid over them, so as to
exclude the external air. In about a fortnight they will "spire" all over,
somewhat like barley in malting, and then the bark will separate freely. They
must, after this, be placed against rails erected for the purpose, and carefully
dried, and then stacked away under cover of some building impervious to wet.
If damp when stored, or if any water reach them afterwards, they will become
damaged in the same way as those not barked.
The first thing that strikes a visitor, on approaching the scene of the rod-
stripping, is a hum of merry voices mingled with the ever-recurring musical
" ping " of the break : the shape of the instrument is not unlike that of a very
narrow jews'-harp, and folly accounts for its resonance. The strong aromatic
smell of the fresh peelings is probably what will be next noticed, as the air
is quite laden with what is an agreeable, if slightly pungent, odour. The
recently peeled rods, thousands of which stand everywhere about, look very
attractive in their pure whiteness, fit, indeed, for a child's cradle — the actual
destiny that awaits not a few of them.
The peelings from the rods make a valuable manure, especially for potatoe-
grounds ; they supply also an excellent thatch, used in constructing sheds for
cows or horses, which being generally too bitter for their taste is seldom
touched by them.
It may be as well to explain what is meant by the expression "peeling
buff," that we used towards the end of the last chapter. It is a process of
removing the bark by means of boiling water or steam, instead of peeling by
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OSIER-PEELING. 25
the ordinary method^ and a stain of a buff colour is thus imparted to the
rods. The colouring-matter producing this result is contained in the bark.
It is said that baskets made of the boiled willow are firmer and wear longer
than those of white rods, and that white baskets will be superseded when
the superior merits of the others are understood. However, in a matter of
this kind the goddess Fashion is arbitrary, and we think this change is no
more likely to happen than that brown bread should take the place of white
in the household because the former is proved to be the more nutritious.
The system by which an account is kept of the number of bolts peeled by
each woman is the ancient one of the tally. The word has survived in several
cases : as a milk tally or score, a tally-shop or imlicensed pawnbroker's. We
have never heard of the thing itself being still employed in any other business
than the rod-stripping. It consists of a stick split as shown in the diagram —
the larger part being kept by the foreman, and the smaller by the person
working. When a bolt (that is, a bundle measuring forty inches round) is
finished, the two pieces are laid together in their original position and a notch
cut by the foreman simultaneously in both. The name of the individual to
whom the account refers is written on the opposite side of the tally to that
which we have represented, a slice being taken off the stick, as boys mark
the ownership of their lead pencils. It is obviously of no use for any one to
add a notch to her part of the stick, as of course it would not afterwards "tally"
with the foreman's.
We subjoin an extract firom an article in Parker's "Chronicles of the
Seasons " on this old-world mode of keeping accounts. The whole paper is well
worth reading, and should be referred to by any one who may be interested
in the subject, as it contains an engraving of an old tally. "As the most
complete illustration of the use of tallies, we may describe the ancient manner
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26 LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES.
of keeping Exchequer accounts. When this system was in full operation, and
money payments were made into the Exchequer, the teller^ or tallyer^ wrote
out a bill, on which was entered the name of the payer, the date, and the
amount of payment. This bill was immediately passed down through a pipe
into the tally courts where it went into other hands. The cutter of the tallies
was an officer whose duty was to provide well-seasoned pieces of hazel, and
cut them into neat four-sided sticks of a convenient length. On receiving the
bill from the tallyer, the tally-cutter selected a stick, and made an entry on
it, corresponding with the terms of the bill. Certain conventional arrangements
enabled him to effect this ; such as cutting a broad notch to signify a thousand
pounds, a narrow one for a hundred pounds, a mere scratch for shillings, and
holes for pence; these were all cut so as to extend entirely across one side
of the piece of wood. This being done, the tally-cutter wrapped the bill around
the stick, and handed both to the " scriptor talliorum," or tally-writer j an officer
afterwards designated the auditor of the receipt. The tally-writer wrote upon
two opposite sides of the wood a duplicate copy of the bill, and then read this
inscription whilst another ftmctionary, the clerk of the pellsy entered the same
in a book. The stick was then passed to the chamberlain^ who slit it into two,
each of which contained entries and notches exactly similar to those on the
other. One half, called the tally^ was then given to the person who had paid
the money ; while the other, called the counter-tally^ was placed upon a string
and carefully preserved in a large chest in the tally-court. If the same person
afterwards came to pay in more money, he produced his tally, and the counter-
tally was taken from its string. The tally and the counter-tally were fitted
accurately together, to see that they corresponded, and the requisite entries
made in both The old tallies, accumulated to a large number,
were lying as lumber in one of the apartments of the Exchequer; and the
burning of these, by order of the Board of Works, led accidentally to the
destruction of the Houses of Parliament in the year 1834."
From another passage in the same article, published in the year 1844, we
gather that the writer supposed this usage of our ancestors to be altogether
a thing of the past. It is, we think, extremely interesting to know that at
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OSIER-PEELING.
27
the present time (thirty years later) the system is still in regular use on the
river.
That the whole operation of osier-peeling, as we have described and illus*
trated it, may speedily be abolished, seems more than likely. A letter that we
received from Mr. Scaling last year gives us news of an American invention
which apparently will bring about the change we speak of. The machine is
that of a Mr. Witte ; it can be worked by horse or steam power, and is capable,
at a very slight expense, of peeling a ton of rods per day. The cheapness of
this method, and the ever-increasing diflSculty of getting hands at any agri-
cultural work, will, we fear, cause these anticipations to be realised.
Swallows.
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CHAPTER V.
SPINNING FOR TROUT AT A WEIR.
<*At last, while haply o'er the shaded sun
Passes a cloud, he desperate takes the death,
With sudden plunge. At once he darts along.
Deep-struck, and runs out all the lengthened line ;
Then seeks the farthest ooze, the sheltering weed,
The cavem*d bank, his old secure abode;
And flies aloft, and flounces round the pool,
Indignant of the guile. With yielding hand.
That feels him still, yet to his furious course
Grives way, you, now retiring, following now
Across the stream, exhaust his idle rage :
Till floating broad upon his breathless side,
And to his fate abandoned, to the shore
You gaily drag your unresisting prize."
Thomson.
'^"N^ Ji LTHOUGH a hundred years ago not only was the common
j\ ^^y trout,* but also his noble cousin, the lordly salmon, to be
found in fair quantities along the course of the Thames, this
river, from the fact of its flowing through a comparatively
flat country, has probably never aboimded with these fish to
the same extent as our more northerly streams. The salmon,
from whatever cause it may have been, whether disgusted by
the abominations of the London sewage or impeded by the weirs or other
obstacles, have for many years abandoned this river. We do not know of
any record fixing the precise date when the last salmon was captured in the
♦ Sdlmo fario.
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SPINNING FOR TROUT AT A WEIR. 31
Thames; but many persons whose childhood may have been passed on its
banks will doubtless, as we do, call to mind some old fisherman who laid claim
to having taken, when a yoimg man, the very last one that ascended the river.
There is no doubt that the erection of the locks and weirs has, by deepening
the reaches, altered the character of the stream in a manner favourable to the
well-being of the pike, but decidedly prejudicial to " the lusty trout." This fish
naturally loves a sharp scour, and clean, gravelly bottom ; and these of course
were the conditions most interfered with when the lock and weir system was
gradually introduced. But as the sharpest streams and most gravelly bottoms
are consequently to be now sought for immediately below these great arti-
ficial dams, so well known to every one on the Thames, it is in these situations
that the trout occur in the greatest numbers and attain to their largest size.
Independently of the facilities afforded them of preying upon the countless
shoals of coarser fry firequenting such places, the very structure of the weirs,
with their overhanging boards and numerous hiding-places, aflFords these fish a
more certain protection from their human enemies than any other places on
the stream. Netting is often impossible in these spots, and successful angling
is far from easy. Almost every weir on the Thames will afford shelter to a
small colony of trout, varying in size from the ten or twelve pound fish, who
delights to lie just below the very strongest rush of water, to the smaller one
of as many ounces, who affects the shallower and more tranquil regions at the
tail of the pool.
It is to some of these weirs, then, that the old Thames angler looks back
with the vivid recollection of their having been the scene of his greatest triumphs,
and here may he still be. seen patiently passing a livelong summer's day waiting
on the monster currently reported to frequent the particular rush he is stationed
at. With a moderate-sized bleak or small dace on his well-appointed spinning-
tackle bobbing about amidst the snowy foam, will he be content to wait hour
after hour, until, on some auspicious occasion, ostensibly depending on neither
wind nor weather, the rapid silvery glance of the game he has so ardently
desired, as it turns downwards with the treacherous bait in its jaws, will be
considered ample repayment for the days of patient watching. And now comes
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32 LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES.
the test of the accomplished angler. Aided by the strength of the current, the
frightened fish, with all its vigour called into action by the maddening sting
of the sharp triangles, tries to its utmost the strength of his tackle ; at one
time, in almost a single rush down to the tail of the pool, nearly emptying the
reel ; at another, exerting all its craft and cunning to fray the line against the
boards under which it is so vainly trying to hide itself. Ultimately, should all
go well, the silvery trophy is tenderly laid on some grass in the basket of the
angler, who feels such intense satisfaction as must be simply unintelligible to
those who have not experienced the absorbing fascination that this sport, of
all others, seems powerful to exert over its devotees. The desire to have
"one more throw" frequently keeps the angler hours after the time he had
intended to return ; and when at last he reluctantly gives up, it is with a sigh
and the wish that he could but have had "one more throw."
The invariable fact that each of these weir-pools is always found to be
inhabited by a large trout, who is the apparent king of the place, reminds one
that in this case, as with other monarchies, " the king never dies." When one
is taken, another large trout soon shows himself in the same spot ; it seems,
indeed, as if he were the successor who had been in readiness to take up the
vacated position at once. "Le roi est mort — vive le roi!"
The comparative scarcity of Thames trout at the present day has been the
occasion of some very interesting correspondence in the Field and other papers.
One of these writers puts the existing state of the case thus — alas ! too truly :
" A score of expert anglers on the Thames try hard all day, and catch — nothing.
Latterly considerable expense and pains have been incurred in artificially
rearing a stock of young fry, to be turned in every year ; and yet, I think all
must admit that the trout-fishing of the Thames is a failure. There are indeed
a few fine fish caught annually. A single trout is seen to rise ; his haunt is
carefully noted, and the best anglers persecute him with every kind of bait,
till, weary of life, he at length gives himself up, and the capture of a Thames
trout is recorded. Such fish can only be taken by the best anglers after great
perseverance, and even then the takes are few. But of trout-fishing in its
ordinary sense there is none. We hear nothing of bags being made, of the
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SPINNING FOR TROUT AT A WEIR. 33
shallows covered with small trout, or of the surface of the river alive with
them." This writer proceeds to suggest, that while the coarse fish probably
destroy the spawn of the trout to an injurious extent, the pike, ** that monster
of voracity," is the chief delinquent.
Another contributor says : " If we would have more trout, let us give them
a greater chance of life, and let their death, at least, be not ignoble. Put aside
the butchery of the live-bait, take more to the fly, and let spinning be but at
most the occasional resource of variety. Then, and not till then, will trout
culture have a fair chance in the Thames, as one most essential requisite for
the well-being of this fish is quietness. I counted the other day twenty-four
punts within less than a quarter of a mile, in which one or more occupants
were spinning. Now, as each angler had on a flight of thirteen hooks, giving
three hundred and twelve hooks in all, as an average of fifteen yards of line
was cast at each throw, and each throw and return occupied say a minute,
and every likely spot was spun over and over again, the enormous quantity of
water which these three hundred and twelve hooks searched in one day alone
may be readily conceived, although diflScult to calculate without the machine
of Babbage."* In reply to the suggestion of getting rid of the pike as the
best means of encouraging the trout, another correspondent writes as follows :
"As for saying they are devoured by jack, perch, &c., many are, of course;
but those who write and wish to exterminate the jack appear to forget that
the trout are invariably in the sharp streams, where the jack are not. They
also appear to forget that the trout itself is more voracious than either jack or
perch ; so that if you had a reach of the Thames with, say, forty, or four hundred,
if you like, trout of a pound and upwards, they would consume more of their
own species than would be consumed by the same number of jack and perch."
The most conclusive arg^ument against the proposed attempt to exterminate
the pike by netting is, that the practical difficulty would be so great, that, in
the opinion of those best qualified to judge, it could only end in "ridiculous
failure. It would simply result in spoiling the sport of five thousand pike fishers,
and would scarcely at all improve that of some two hundred trout fishers."
♦ Greville F., the Field^ April 19, 1873.
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34 LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES.
The gradual destruction of the spawning grounds, the absence of boulders,
snags, and holes as harbours of refuge, the poisoning of the water by mill-refuse,
and the fish being poached when running up brooks, are among the various
reasons put forward severally by diflferent persons who are most actively con-
cerned in the matter. We leave it to the reader to attach what weight he
thinks due to the different causes thus suggested to account for the undeniable
fact of the decline of this highly prized fish.
For the benefit of those who may not be acquainted with the term "spinning,"
it may be as well to explain that it means causing the small fish which serves
for the bait to revolve rapidly on being drawn through the water. This is
effected by fixing its body in a somewhat bent position, so that the tail causes
a slight opposition in the transit through the water. This adjustment requires
great nicety to make the fish spin freely, and the tackle includes several swivels
to prevent the twisting of the line, which, of necessity, would otherwise take
place. The manner of fishing with this tackle is a sweeping throw with the
rod, which casts the bait some distance; the line is then drawn into the left
hand or allowed to coil loosely near the feet. When nearly all the line is
thus drawn in, so that little is left beyond the rod, the throw is again repeated.
The rings attached throughout to the rod are in this case made large, that
the line may run out with as little resistance as possible.
The extreme wariness of this fish, whose sense of seeing and hearing must
be very acute, has always rendered angling for it a favourite sport. A shadow
moving over the stream, the footsteps of a passenger along the bank, and
similar trifles, do not escape the notice of the trout. So well is this known,
that when on a bridge over a weir, it is no uncommon thing for the fisherman
to tie list round his shoes in order to deaden the sound of his footsteps.
The trout varies much in appearance, according to the locality in which
it is found ; being bright and silvery in clear, rapid waters, and nearly black
when taken from confined and dark situations. Occasionally it has been
caught of ten and twelve pounds weight, and sometimes more ; but a four or
five pounds trout is considered a very good sized fish. Its usual colour is
yellowish grey, darker or browner on the back, and marked on the sides by
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SPINNING FOR TROUT AT A WEIR. 35
several rather distant, round, bright red spots, each surrounded by a tinge of
pale grey. The female fish is of a brighter and more beautiful appearance
than the male.
The spawning time of the trout is from the middle of November till the
beginning of January. Towards the end of the autumn they quit the deep
water to which they had retired during the latter part of summer, and make
great efforts to gain the source of the currents. Like salmon, "they will
get," as Walton says, " almost miraculously, through weirs and floodgates
against the streams, even through such high and swift places as is almost
incredible;" and having reached the gravelly shallows, they make beds, and
deposit their ova therein. Trout-fishing does not commence till the first of
April, by which time the fish have recovered their condition. The head is at
this time small in proportion to the body, which is nearly oval in shape, and
the spots are brilliant and distinct. "A hog-back and a little head, to either
trout, salmon, or any other fish, is a sign that that fish is in season," is
Walton's homely rule; and he adds, "he may justly contend with all fresh-
water fish, as the mullet may with all sea-fish, for precedency and daintiness
of taste." At the present time there are always many people willing to give
half-a-crown a pound for a Thames trout. The flavour of the flesh resembles
that of salmon, but is more delicate. They are in most request for the table
from May till the summer has passed — an eflfect produced by the greater quantity
of insect food obtained during that period. An experiment was made some
years ago to ascertain the relative value of different kinds of food to this fish,
which is thus related by Mr. Stoddart : — ♦
" Fish were placed in three separate tanks, one of which was supplied daily
with worms, another with live minnows, and a third with those small dark-
coloured water-flies which are found moving about on the surface, under banks
and sheltered places. The trout fed on worms grew slowly, and had a lean
appearance; those nourished on minnows, which it was observed they darted
at with much voracity, became much larger ; while such as were fattened upon
« See Parker^s *< Chronicles of the Seasons/* which is our aathority for several of oar facts relating to
the natural history of this fish.
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LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES.
flies only attained in a short time prodigious dimensions, weighing twice as
much as both the others together, although the quantity of food swallowed by
them was in nowise great." It cannot be denied, however, that the largest
trout are taken in those streams which are well stocked with minnows and
other small fry.
One of our up-river friends, when enthusiastically describing the appearance
of a magnificent Thames trout, used a quaint expression, which we think worth
recording. He said it was in splendid condition, "with plumage beautiful."
We were pleasantly struck by the remark, and could not help fancying that it
would have been " a feather to tickle the intellect " of the learned author of
the " Origin of Species," had he been present. With this we will bid farewell
to—
*' The crimson-spotted trout, the river's pride.
And beauty of the stream.*'
Kingfisher.
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CHAPTER VI.
WEIR WITH MOVABLE BRIDGE.
**.... Weary as water in a weir."
Early English Pokt.
O invention, however great an improvement it may be, ever
seems to bring about a state of things better in all points than
that which it supersedes. Accordingly there are reasons why
inland waters, as a medium of conveyance, are in many cases
preferable to railways. They are especially adapted for those
goods which are very heavy, very bulky, or which cannot
well bear any rough carriage. For the reason last mentioned,
bricks are, if possible, always transported by water; it being found, from
the smooth and easy motion of a boat, that the load is seldom damaged,
while by rail the percentage of bricks that get broken is very large. To
those persons residing near a river the expense of sending goods by it is
frequently less than by any other mode of conveyance.
Inland navigation by means of rivers and canals is obviously at a dis-
advantage when compared with the road or the rail as regards rapidity of
transit. The decided preference that rivers seem always to manifest for a
circuitous route often renders the distance between two towns on the banks
half as much again as the direct road between them. Besides, the regularity
of the water-traffic is liable to be interfered with by drought in the summer,
and floods or frost in the winter. It is no wonder, then, that the railway
should have drawn away most of the traffic from the Thames. The towing-
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40 LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES.
path along the side of the river was formerly valuable property, certain farms
having a prescriptive right to supply the use of horses to the barges while
passing. In one instance, to our personal knowledge, a path of this description
which twenty years ago realised ;^2oo a year, now scarcely repays the expenses
of keeping in repair.
The chief difficulties that exist in the navigation of rivers are owing to the
irregularity in the depth of the stream at different places, and the varying
velocity of the current The great obstacle, therefore, to be surmounted may
be described as a shallow extending the whole width of the stream with a
considerable rush or fall of water over it. This state of things naturally
occurs with greater frequency the farther one penetrates inland towards the
source of a river.
The most primitive way of overcoming the difficulty has been to erect a
movable dam all across the river, below the shallow; the boards of the dam
being, of course, high enough to keep back sufficient water to enable a boat
to float over the shallow. By this means a boat descending the stream meets
with.no impediment till it reaches the dam, or "weir" (pronounced "wire"
by the riverside people), as it is technically called. The boards composing
the dam are then removed, and the boat proceeds for some time with great
rapidity, owing to the increased volume of water by which it is carried along.
The temporary depth thus produced while the body of water descends enables
the boat to pass over many shallows below the weir. This removal of the
boards is called "flashing" a weir, and is "the tide in the affairs" of bargemen,
the neglect of which lands them "in shallows and in miseries." Of course
it is in the summer and autumn that these artificial aids to navigation are
most employed, there being at other times enough and to spare of the then
precious fluid. We first thought that the word "flashing" was a vulgar
corruption from "flushing," but as it appears in the printed orders of the
Thames Conservancy we suppose it is correct. The suddenness with which
the pent-up water rushes away, and its glitter and white foam, may not
improbably have suggested the word. When the water is low, the river is
flashed twice a week by the regularly appointed keepers of the weirs, each
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WEIR WITH MOVABLE BRIDGE. 41
of them waiting till the water from the weir next up the stream has reached
him. By this means a continually augmenting volume of water descends,
on the flood of which the whole of the traffic is carried. Sometimes the
bargemen are sorely tempted to draw a flash on their own account, when
they may have been unusually delayed, or are from any reason particularly
anxious to proceed. However, the Thames Conservators are severe, and
have issued handbills stating that all persons ofiending in the above case
render themselves liable to a penalty of ;^ 20, and the strict observance of the
regulations is considered so essential that the prosecution of ofienders is deemed
by them an imperative duty.
The different parts of the most simple weir are first the sill or fixed beam,
laid securely across the bottom of the stream; then, directly over this, but
considerably above the surface of the water, is placed a second but movable
beam. Against and in front of these parallel beams a set of loose boards is
placed upright and close together like a door. These loose boards are called
paddles, and the long handles with which they are ftimished rest against the
upper beam, the pressure of the stream serving to hold them in their places.
Between the paddles are placed upright supports termed " rimers ; " and when
a second set of paddles is employed over the first to obtain a greater depth
of water, this set is called the " overfall."
A weir, though constructed for the purpose of facilitating the navigation,
is incidentally of considerable use in other ways. The damming up of the
water renders any side stream that may happen to leave the main current
above and rejoin it below a weir available for turning a water-wheel ;
consequently we find a mill of frequent occurrence in its neighbourhood. The
picturesque appearance of the spot is thus often greatly enhanced, for if the
miller's dwelling should chance to be an old building, it is sure to be pretty ;
if a new one, I am afraid we must say it is pretty sure not to be so.
As the largest barge is far from occupying the full width of the stream,
it is practically found that only a portion of the bridge is required to be
movable. In our illustration to this chapter the man who is putting down the
paddles is standing on the movable part, called the " swing-bridge." It revolves
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LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES.
on a pivot close to the edge of the water, and the weight is balanced by the
increased thickness of the beam at the landweird end, on which is often placed
a great stone or other heavy substance. The upper beam and hand-rail across
that part are, of course, removed before the bridge is swung round, and it
is for this purpose that the two handles which may be noticed are added.
We met with the expressive line which we have put at the commencement
of this chapter in the following passage from Lowell's essay on Chaucer; he
does not inform us from which old author he has culled it : " Even the stereo-
typed similes of these fortunate alliterates, like * weary as water in a weir,' or
* glad as grass is of the rain,' are new, like nature, at the thousandth repetition.
This popular literature is of value in helping us toward a juster estimate of
Chaucer, by showing what the language was capable of, and that all it wanted
was a poet to put it through its paces."
Hovel for Barge^horses.
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CHAPTER VIL
WEIR WITH FIXED BRIDGE.
" Shall Thames be barred its coarse "with stops and locks.
With mils, and hils, and gravell beds and rocks,
With weares, and weeds, and forced Hands made,
To spoil a publike for a private trade?"
John Taylor (the Water Poet, 1640).
jUR explanations of the preceding drawing apply in a great
measure to this, modified, as the name implies, by the fact
that in this case the whole structure is permanent. Thus,
instead of paddles with long handles that are removed bodily,
we have them here made to slide in grooves. They are
raised by means of the chains which are coiled round axles
placed just below the upper beam. The axles are caused
to revolve by inserting 'nto them a staff with a square end, for which purpose
the square holes are made that may be observed near either extremity of the
axles. A short chain, suspended from the upper beam and finishing with a
hook, is used to retain the paddle at whatever height may be thought desirable,
by attaching the hook to a link in the chain first, alluded to. Some of the
paddles are represented as left down, so that the mode of raising them may
be the more readily understood by noticing the different positions of the chains
in either case.
One of the incidental uses of these weirs is that the fi-amework erected
may be with very little trouble utilised as a bridge. In the thinly populated
districts of the Upper Thames regular bridges are few and far between, so that
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46 LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES.
these slight foot-bridges save the poor people many a weary mile in their walk
to the nearest market-town.
The noisy rush of water that continues for an hour or so after the flash
is drawn is enough to terrify a child, for whom the railing is at too great a
height to be much protection. There is a considerable trembling of the old
timber, with a tumble-down air pervading the whole thing, that may well
justify the timidity of the little girl we sketched while being carried over by
her father, and looking the picture of alarm.
One of the effects of sending down the head of water is to cause the big
trout to show himself at the surface, rising first at one part of the pool and
then at another; but, as we believe, more in wantonness than for food. We
fancy it is his way of testifying that the boiling and eddying state of
the water is his idea of the correct thing in the way of a trout-stream, and a
protest against man's endeavour to improve the river to a dead level. Visitors
to the Crystal Palace or Brighton Aquarium will have noticed how fish of
many kinds seem to revel in the bath of air-bubbles that enters with their
fresh supply of water. Mention of the trout reminds us that one paddle is
frequently left up when the rest are down, for the sake of putting a net in the
passage thus made, in which any fish carried down by the stream or trying
to descend may be entrapped. As this description of weir is a permanent
structure, provision is made for the passage of boats by means of an inge-
nious arrangement called a " lock," which is described and explained in our
next chapter.
The difficulty of making use of information from old authors who may have
incidentally alluded to the navigation of the river is greatly increased by the
curious change that has taken place in the meaning of the terms employed.
For instance, Chaucer refers to the weirs of his day in the following passages : —
"This stream leadeth you to the sorrowful weir
Where as the fish in prison is all dry.*'
The Assembly of Fowls.
** When they may not construe how it may go
She loveth him, or why he loveth her,
As why this fish, not that, comes to the weir.'*
Troilus and Cressida.
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PT-fiTff WITH FIXED BRIDGE. 47
Now the sense of both these passages shows that the word "weir '* then meant
simply a trap for fish; no doubt this was placed where there was a dam of
some sort, and so in time the word became gradually transferred to the
obstruction itself.
Again, before even the invention of what we now call a " lock,'* the word
was common enough, and is found in many old authors when speaking about
the river. The context invariably shows that it was used for what, at the
present day, is called a "weir;" so that where this has not been understood
by the reader, the meaning must have been frequently obscured. The accom-
panying extract from an old tract will bear out our statement. The pamphlet
is entitled " Sad and deplorable news from Oxfordsheir and Barksheir, being
a true and lamentable relation of the drowning of about sixty persons, men,
women, and children, in the lock near Goring in Oxfordsheir, as they were
passing by water from Goring feast to Stately in Barksheir. Printed for
R. Vaughan, in the Little Old Bailey, 1674." The accident arose from the
imprudence of the waterman in taking his boat too near to the "lock," where,
by the force of the water, the boat was drawn down the "lock," and presently
overturned. Except some fourteen or fifteen, all were unfortunately drowned
in the presence of hundreds of persons, then met at the feast. The pamphlet
concludes by a solemn warning and prophecy, that this wa^ one of the
signs of the approach of the Day of Judgment !
Chamberlain's " Survey of London," published in the year 1770, mentions the
existence of many "locks" on the Thames, which are thus defined: "Machines
of wood placed across the river, and so contrived as to confine the current
of water as long as is found convenient — that is, till the water rises to such a
height as to allow depth enough for the barges to pass over the shallows ; which,
being effected, the water is set at liberty, and the loaded vessel proceeds on
its voyage, till another shoal requires the same contrivance to carry it forward."
This, it will be seen, answers precisely to what we have defined a "weir" to be.
At that date the expense to a barge for passing through all these weirs
amounted to nearly fourteen pounds. This was, however, only during the
summer, when the water was low, these weirs at all other seasons being
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LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES.
removed; and the same authority adds that "from London Bridge to Bolter's
Lock, which is a distance of fifty-one miles and a half, there is no lock on
the river."
In the lines from the "Water Poet" that preface this chapter he has intro-
duced "rocks;" this is, we suppose, a poetical licence, as, though rocks do
not exist in any part of the Thames, at all events the word rhymes admirably
with " locks." The " weares " had always been a grievance ; the Magna Charta
includes a clause for their suppression, and they are fi-equently mentioned in
later Acts.
Martins,
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CHAPTER VIIL
OPENING A LOCK.
<< That, drawn off sideways, smooth and still,
The pent-up flood may go
To where the lock doth fall and fill,
"With gate-checked ebb and flow.
'< Like subtle counsel, that supplies
A safe and sidelong way
To round whatever barriers rise
Across the forthright way."
Tom Taylor.
LOCK, or pound, as it is sometimes called, is an enclosure
between two pairs of gates, and is usually large enough to
admit several barges at the same time. It is the necessary
accompaniment of the fixed weir, alongside of which it is-
sometimes placed, though more frequently on a side-stream,
or "cut." The level of the water above and below the
lock corresponds with that above and below the weir; but
in the lock itself the water level can be varied at pleasure, between the
two extremes, by means of valves in the gates. These permit the water to
enter through the upper gates and to escape through the lower ones. When
it is necessary to pass a boat upwards through the lock, she is first floated
in at the lower gates, previously opened, and which are next to be shut.
Water is then admitted through the valves of the upper gates till it has
filled the lock-chamber to the level of the water above the weir, and has, of
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course, raised the boat along with it. The reverse of this process will obviously
conduct a boat down through the lock, which is said to be empty when the
water in it is at the lower level, although it has still the same depth of water
as the lower river.
The tendency of the age to substitute the mechanical and the ugly for
the simple and picturesque is noticeable on the Thames as well as everywhere
else. Hideous turret-ships on the sea have their counterpart in the horrid
little steamers that one now encounters high up the river. The number of
these nuisances increases yearly at a greater rate than would be believed,
and are fast robbing the river of its peaceful beauty. But have we not heard
that even Venice, throned on her hundred isles, has had her hitherto silent
thoroughfares invaded by one of these screeching little monsters ? The reflection
most often forced upon our mind while engdl^ed on the present work has
been that, in whatever direction our study may have lain, "the old order
changeth," and that had we delayed our task much longer there would have
been left comparatively little of interest that an artist would select for repre-
sentation. So, in the case of the locks themselves, the quaint old constructions
of irregular wood- work that were a pleasure to look upon are gradually making
way for successors of "improved" modem style. With side-walls of square
blocks of concrete, and smooth gates as black as pitch can make them, they
lose all charm of appearance. The action, too, of opening the gates by leaning
the back against the swing-beam, that we have depicted, is fast becoming
obsolete, giving way to a mechanical apparatus with wheel and axle.
The locks also serve the purpose of toll-gates, the sum to be paid being
regulated by the size or ft-eight of the boat passing. The proceeds are devoted
to the necessary expenses connected with the navigation. There used to be
considerable difference in the charges at the different locks under the old
regime, some few of them, however, being free. At the present time all are
under the management of the Thames Conservators, who have issued by-laws
with the following scale of tolls for pleasure-boats.
Class I.— For every pair-oared row-boat, skiffi outrigger, randan, dinghy,
punt, canoe, or company-boat, id.
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OPENING A LOCK. 53
Class II. — For every four-oared row-boat (other than the boats enumerated
in Class I.), bd.
Class III. — For every row-boat, shallop, and company-boat, over four
oars, 9^1
For every house-boat, is. bd.
The above charges to be for passing once through the lock, and returning
the same day.
In lieu of the above tolls, boats may be registered on the annual payment
to the Conservators of the under-mentioned sums, and may, in consideration
of such payment, pass the several locks free of any other charge : — Every row-
boat in Classes I., II., and III. to pay respectively 20J., 30J., and 40J. per annum ;
and every house-boat, loos. per annum.
Some account of the different descriptions of boats here mentioned will be
found in a later chapter under the title ** Boat-building."
The occupants of pleasure-boats frequently have a dread of passing through
a lock, from an exaggerated idea of the danger of the proceeding; quite as
often they are not aware of what danger there actually is ; and hence many
a day's pleasure has been marred. The safe position for a boat in a lock
is to be parallel to and close by one of the side-walls or another boat. She
should be held to the side with a boat-hook by the oarsman in the bow-seat
when ascending the river^ and by the steerer when descending. When this rule
is attended to, the pressure of the current itself keeps the boat in its proper
position alongside, and prevents it swinging across the lock. The only case
in which, to our knowledge, the above rule admits of any modification is
when so strong a wind is blowing up the river as to counteract the pressure
of the stream. In ascending, it is necessary to look sharply that neither a
row-lock, nor any other part of the boat, gets caught under any projection,
such as a beam, at the side of the lock, as in this way a boat will be first
held by the rising water, then soon filled and swamped. Should, through
carelessness, a boat become fixed in the way we are speaking of, the lock-
keeper should be instantly shouted to, that he may let down the valves or
paddles, and so prevent any more water coming in. While descending the
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LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES.
river, the danger is so slight that we have never known any case of an
accident happening in a lock. If there should happen to be any gpreatly
projecting ledge — a very rare occurrence — care must be taken that the boat
do not rest at all upon it while the water is subsiding.
It is supposed, and with considerable probability, that the casual position
of two weirs near each other may have originally suggested the invention of
the lock. A number of locks on a river changes the naturally inclined plane
of the water into a series of comparatively level surfaces, separated by abrupt
descents; a somewhat parallel case on land would be to alter an easy slope
into large flat terraces with a single step down from each successive terrace.
Barge.
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CHAPTER IX.
NET.MENDING.
" Le pauvre carpillon Ini dit en sa mani^,
Que ferez-vous de moi ? je ne saorois foumir
An plus qu*ime demi*boach^ :
Laissez-moi carpe devenir ! "
La Fontainb.
OOP-NETS, which we have here depicted, resemble to some
extent the grig-weels described in a later chapter; they are,
however, much larger in the opening, and being constructed
of string instead of osier-rods, they present a very different
appearance. They are laid in the evening, with the larger
or open end down the stream, so that fish " moving " during
the night may work their way into the small chamber, as
eels do in the grig-weels. They are not set for any particular species : perch,
jack, chub, roach, dace, in fact " all is fish that comes to the net." We might
add moor-hens and even otters ; for the former the net is often purposely laid
in a dry ditch that they have been observed to frequent ; and with regard to
the latter, we have heard of instances in which they have pursued their prey
right into the net, and thus led to their own destruction.
It is a good thing that we have a Board of Thames Conservators, who can
make by-laws in the interests of the professional fisherman; for, as a rule,
he himself is sadly wanting in foresight. The size of the mesh in these nets
is wisely put at two inches, the use of an3rthing smaller being illegal; yet
the fisherman, in most cases, grumbles at the escape of the undersized fish.
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Before the present prudent regulations were enforced, the spawning season of
the diflFerent kinds of fish was little, if at all, respected; and they were then
most recklessly destroyed by the very persons who would afterwards be the
chief losers in the case. " Stiving-time " is the country expression on the
Upper Thames for the spawning season. We have known of the fish being
taken, imder these circumstances, in such quantities as would be generally
considered incredible. They have been hawked round by the barrow-load, and
sold for a mere trifle to any one who would buy. As nourishing food during
that season they are nearly worthless, and not unfrequently are positively
unwholesome.
The malpractices of taking small fry and spawning fish are of very old
standing, if one may judge by the laws that have in past times been enacted
against them. We find in the preamble of an act* passed in the reign of
Queen Elizabeth, that —
"The spawn, fiy, and young breed of eels, salmon, pikes, and all other fish
heretofore, hath been much destroyed in rivers and streams within this realm,
insomuch that they feed swine and dogs with the fiy and spawn of fish, and
otherwise, lamentable and horrible to be reported, destroy the same, to the
gfreat hindrance and decay of the Commonwealth."
It is then enacted —
"That no person or persons of what estate, degree, or condition soever he
be, or they be, with any manner of net, weele, but, taining, kepper, line, crele,
raw, fagnet, trol-net, trimboat, stallboat, weblister, seur, lammet, or with any
device or engine made of hair, wool, line, or camias, or shall use any heling
net, or by any other device, engine, cawtel, ways or means whatsoever heretofore
made or devised .... shall take and kill any young brood, spawn, or fiy of
eels, salmon, pike or pikerel, or of any other fish." Such a host of " machines
and ways and means " is suggestive of a corresponding abundance of fish in
those days. The act, which is a very long one, contains also the reg^ulation
that " every mesh or mash of the net shall be two inches and a half abroad."
There are several alterations which might be wisely made in the existing
♦ See « Records of Buckinghamshire," No. 8, p. 273.
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NET-MENDING. 59
fence months for the various fish. Our authority on these points is Mr. Francis
Francis, the able editor of the Fields and probably the most competent person
living to g^ve an opinion in the matter. He says: —
"These, then, are the changes which I advocate: Allow roach, bream,
and chub to be taken through March ; prohibit the taking of trout until April,
and also the capture of pike, barbel, roach, bream, and chub in Jime. The
dace and perch, which are earlier spawners, and are by that time in fair con-
dition, may still be taken in Jime. As a rule, the other fish, except the
jack, do not feed much in June, and are not fit to take; when they are, the
deprivation would be small, while the advantage of the change would be
great. Then, too, a word or two may be said of the carp and tench. These
fish do not spawn till June, and in other waters often kill well and are in
good condition in March and April, the weather being fitting. These, tco,
might be taken through March and April. They are not abxmdant in the
Thames, but might easily be made so, if the Thames Angling Preservation
Society would but give their attention to the increase of them. Where they
are found they grow to a large size, and are excellent sporting and table fish.
They could easily be largely increased, as there are very many localities
specially adapted for them. We often have lovely weather in March, when
one longs to be on the river. The puntsmen, I am sure, will advocate the
change, as they will get a month's work where now they do not get a day.
" I wish all the London clubs would take this question under consideration,
and send us, through their secretaries, their opinions as to the desirability of
the change, with any remarks they may feel called on to make. I am not in
the least bigoted about the matter, but am desirous of doing some good,
especially to the poor pimtsmen, to whom I owe many, very many, pleasant
days on the bosom of dear old Father Thames."
Another point is, that the ditches, &c., adjoining the Thames should be
protected: omission of a clause to this effect has resulted in the wholesale
destruction of fish by means of the wire noose. " There is, however, some hope
that in the absence of Conservators' law this decimating practice may be put
a stop to ; for it would be the first consideration of the workers of any com-
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LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES.
prehensive scheme for the protection of the whole of the Upper Thames to
obtam the sanction of the landowners to prosecute for trespass — ^the only way
which indeed presents itself as a check or suppression to so abominable and
demoralising a pursuit."
Though all know well enough what a net is, it is one of those things
extremely difficult to define with accuracy, and has accordingly been a sad
stumbling-block to lexicographers. The explanation of "net-work" as given
in Dr. Johnson's Dictionary is very amusing, particularly if one imagpines it
consulted by a person imperfectly acquainted with our language; it is as
follows: ^^ Anything reticulated or decussated^ at equal distances y with interstices
between the intersections **
Pike.
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CHAPTER X.
SHEEP. WASHING.
" On the bank
Of a clear river, gently drive the flock,
And plunge them one by one into the flood :
Plunged in the flood, not long the stmggler sinks,
\^th his white flakes that glisten thro' the tides;
The sturdy rustic, in the middle wave,
Awaits to seize him rising ; one arm bears
His lifted head above the limpid stream.
While the full clammy fleece the other laves
Around, laborious, with repeated toil ;
And then resigns him to the sunny bank.
Where, bleating loud, he shakes his dripping locks."
Dyba.
i MATT, side-streams, or brooks, leading into the river are gene-
rally chosen for sheep-washing, being usually more convenient
for the purpose than the main stream. The process, as we
have ourselves witnessed it, diflFers from that which we have
always seen in pictures or read about, in the point of the
men not standing in the water at their work. It may be that
the method varies somewhat in different parts of the country,
or more probably that this, as well as many other things, is pushed forward
earlier in the year than it used to be.
From Thomas Miller's " Pictures of Country Life " we quote the following
spirited description of an old-fashioned sheep-washing : —
"All who have wandered into the country about the beginning of summer
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64 LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES.
must have heard the unusual bleating amongst sheep in the neighbourhood of
rivers, or beside watercourses; and if they have never beheld such a scene
before, must, when they have reached the spot, have looked both with interest
and pleasure at a sheep-washing. There stand three powerful simbumt fellows,
up to the middle in water ; a sheep is forced in by a man on the bank ; it is
seized by the first washer, who, laying fast hold of the fleece, souses the poor
creature about as if he would shake it to pieces ; he then loosens his hold,
and the bleating animal, as he begins swimming towards the shore, is seized
by the second washer, in whose hands he fares no better than he did whilst
an un v^illing prisoner to the first. He bleats more pitifiilly, and just as he is
within a few feet of the shore, souse he goes over and over for the third time
— and then he is at liberty. He reaches the bank, and there stands bleating,
while the water flows from his heavy fleece. Others who have undergone the
same fate bleat in reply ; while the unwashed ones are not a bit behindhand
in their complainings, for a hundred sheep 'baa' like one.
" Then what a roar of laughter comes ringing upon the air at the sturdy
shepherd-boy, who, while thrusting and forcing along some obstinate sheep to
the edge of the water is carried in headlong with his woolly companion, and,
by an unexpected plunge, both are sent head over ears together, and land
alike with a kindred and sheepish look.
"We have seen pictures in which sheep- washing and sheep-shearing (or
clipping, as the farmers call it) are represented together ; as if it was only out
of the water and then under the shears. Sheep are never clipped as soon as
they are washed; if they are dry in three or four days, they clip hard and
* husky,' and far from easy; but if they stay ten or twelve days after the
washing, the oil retxims into the fleece, and then the shears move quite free."
Our illustration will show that the washing of the fleece, as we have seen
it, is performed by means of a piece of wood fixed across the end of a pole.
With this the animal is scrubbed vigorously ; and when he gets near the bar
that may be noticed stretching from side to side an inch or two above the surface
of the water, he is ducked under completely by a good push at the nape of the
neck. When he comes up again he finds himself close to an inclined path, by
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SHEEP- WASHING.
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which, without delay, he regains the land, his general expression as he emerges
denoting anything but satisfaction at the treatment he has undergone.
The quotation from the poet which we have placed at the commencement
of the chapter speaks of " the clear river " and " the limpid stream." These
expressions may be appropriate before the sheep-washing has begun, but the
process soon discolours and sullies the water extremely, and it is some time
before it recovers its purity. One effect of this is to sicken the fish to such
a degfree as to seriously interfere with the angling for the time.
Our vignette, sketched "in the leafy month of Jime," was suggested by
these lines of Keats : —
« Trees old and young, sprouting a shady boon
For simple sheep."
Shtep in Shade,
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CHAPTER XI.
THE WRECK ASHORE.
'* The first strokes that the oars stmck
Were over the broad leas ;
The neit stroke that the oars struck
They pushed beneath the trees."
D. G. ROSETTI,
S the children of rich people, bom and bred in cities, play at
making morning calls, shopping, and giving parties, so do
all the other little folks, with the varjring circumstances of
their respective homes, enjoy their own world of "make-
believe." Indeed, when one thinks of what the favourite toys
of children are — dolls, tin soldiers, bricks, rocking-horses, &c.
— and that the books that charm them wholly are the most
extravagant of fairy tales, it would appear that the child lives a great pro-
portion of his time in the world of fancy. It is somewhat mortifying to con-
sider how little imagination we adults are blest with, compared to that of
which we must, at one time, have been the happy possessors.
The work of their parents, whatever it may happen to be, is the first occu-
pation that children naturally take to playing at. In the case we have illus-
trated, the fisherman's lucky youngsters have found an old punt left high and
dry by the floods of the previous winter, and are hard at work. A clothes-
prop serves the boy for a punting-pole ; while his sister rows steadily, with a
broken bough for an oar. The two other juveniles have been taken on board
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THE WRECK ASHORE. 6q
as passengers, along with the dog, though the latter does not keep up the
character so well as might be wished. He, perhaps, has his world of imagina-
tion, and, as Montaigne said of his cat, probably thinks that human beings
are provided solely for his amusement.
There are few things, however worthless in appearance, that may not be
turned to some accoimt, if only a use is sought for them. The Thames Angling
Preservation Society has by example shown what is to be done with decayed
punts. At certain parts of the river the members have bought up all the old
punts and sunk them in the different deeps, taking care to cover them pretty
freely with tenter-hooks and to load them well with stones and gravel. Nothing
can form a better harbour of refuge for the fish and their brood than old punts
thus deposited in suitable places. The driving in of stakes is also recommended
for furthering the same object, and is, no doubt, a very useful expedient ; but
the stakes can be drawn, while the moving of a punt sunk in the manner we
have described would be a task of much greater difficulty. This is really
important; as, year after year, the great strongholds of the fish are being
destroyed by holes being filled in, old stumps and heavy bushes cut down,
wooden camp-sheddings demolished, and in their place smooth concrete facings
placed along the bank.
If an old punt left by the floods is not devoted to this purpose, the probability
is that in most cases the floods of the ensuing winter will break up the wreck
and bear it away piecemeal.
A letter that was published in the Times of November, 1872, contained the
following observation with reference to the occasion of the overflowing of the
river in this district : " Little flood may be expected in the Upper Thames
when the rain comes from east and north-west; whereas, had it been from
south and south-west the flood would have been considerable." A careful
register of such facts would, we think, be of great value.
Other notes with reference to the floods will be found in our chapter on
Ballasting.
Our vignette on the next page represents the vole, or water-rat as it is
commonly called. In "My Garden," Mr. Alfred Smee says, concerning this
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LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES,
animal : " It is really not a rat, but a small species of beaver. By making
holes for itself in the banks of streams, and thus undermining them, it does
considerable mischief. It is a vegetable feeder, and the statement that it is
in the habit of devouring fish is a false charge. The roots of my trees are
sometimes gnawed by it; and rarely a winter passes without an apple or a
nut tree having its roots cut within a few inches of the stem. When the vole
takes to the water, the air adheres to the fur of the animal, and as it glides
through the water a silvery object is presented to view, which has puzzled
many persons : in this respect it resembles the water-shrew."
WaUr-rGts.
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CHAPTER XII.
THE DIPPING-PLACE.
". . . . As sweet as milke, as clear as glasse/'
John Taylor (the Water Poet, 1640).
^HE dipping-place, or dipping-hole, as it is perhaps more fre-
I quently called, is the usual substitute for a well or pump in
the case of the poorer classes living close by the river. The
idea of drinking the water of the Thames is no doubt very
repugnant to those who may live near town; but in the case
of our up-river friends much pity need not be wasted on that
score. The perfect clearness of the river is at times quite
startling, the varied colour of " the enamel'd stones " being distinguishable at
great depth.
The verses in Charles Kingsley's " Water Babies," on this contrast between
diflferent states of the same stream, are so beautiful that the introduction of
them here needs no apology: —
" Clear and cool, dear and cool.
By laughing shallow, and dreaming pool ;
Cool and clear, cool and clear.
By shining shingle, and foaming weir ;
Under the crag where the ouzel sings,
And the ivied wall where the church-bell rings,
Undefiled, for the undefUed ;
Play by me, bathe in me, mother and child.
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74 LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES.
''Dank and foul, dank and foul,
By the smoky town in its murky cowl ;
Foul and dank, foul and dank,
By wharf and sewer and slimy bank ;
Darker and darker the further I go,
Baser and baser, the richer I grow ;
Who dare sport with the sin-defiled ?
Shrink from me, turn from me, mother and child.
<* Strong and free, strong and free.
The floodgates are open, away to the sea;
Free and strong, free and strong,
Cleansiug my streams as I hurry along
To the golden sands, and the leaping bar.
And the taintless tide that awaits me afar.
As I lose myself in the infinite main,
Like a soul that has sinned and is pardoned again,
Undefiled, for the undefiled ;
Play by me, bathe in me, mother and child.*'
An old writer, speaking of "the incomparable relish and pleasant taste"
of the fish in our river and one or two others named by him, gives the reason
that, "by the opinion of geographers, it is because of their largeness, com-
modiousness, swiftness, stoney and gravelly soil, which makes their waters so
pure, clear, and cristaline, and of so salubrious and nutritious a nature/' The
" swiftness " of the stream is a difficult thing to measure with accuracy. Owing
to the natural obstructions which exist in many parts of the river from bends,
shoals, islands, weeds, &c., the velocity of the river does not follow the law
of the variation of its inclinations ; and the artificial obstacles from weirs,
locks, eyots, &c., render it impossible to ascertain the velocity correctly. Much
depends also on the volume of water which may be passing down the river
at the time, and the use of flashes.* The total fall from Lechlade to low-
water mark at London Bridge, a distance of 146J miles, is 258 feet; being, on
an average, about twenty-one inches per mile. In general, the velocity may be
estimated at from half a mile to two miles and three-quarters per hour; but
the mean may be about two miles.
Mr. W. H. Brougham (Hon. Sec. T. A. P. S.) has made a suggestion to
anglers with reference to the water which we think worthy their attention.
* See page 40.
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THE DIPPING-PLACE.
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It is that they should take the temperature of the stream every time they go
out to fish, and so ascertain at what degree of the thermometer they have
been most successful. In Mr. Brougham's opinion this might probably indicate
the best periods for fishing of different kinds. At all events, we should be glad
to hear of the suggestion being put into practice, as records of facts often turn
out valuable for other reasons besides those primarily thought of.
During severe winters ice is sometimes formed at the bottom of the stream,
and in this district is designated groimd-ice.
We cannot conclude with anything finer than the following enthusiastic
phrases by Dr. Mackay in the opening paragraph of his "Thames and its
Tributaries." Speaking of the pure water of the river, he characterises it as
"beautiful to the eye, refreshing to the touch, pleasant to the palate, and
musical to the ear."
Wood'pigeons drinking*
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CHAPTER XIII.
THE FERRY.
*<A boat, a boat,
Haste to the ferry."
Old English Round.
|F all subjects probably the ferry has been the one most fre-
quently chosen by animal painters, from the opportunity it
affords them of introducing their speciality into the picture
along with figures. The various animals that, without violation
of probability, might be passing over at one and the same
time, give the painter a chance of getting more variety in a
limited space than perhaps any other treatment of his theme
would allow. It is almost as much prized by the landscape painters, who
constantly avail themselves of the ferry as an incident giving life to the pictxire,
and enabling them to get in the "bit of colour" that they seem generally to
consider indispensable.
The ferry-boat, worked in the particular manner that we have chosen for
our picture, is only in use high up the river. The rope, which has to be raised
when a barge or other large boat passes under it, would be too much in the
way if the traffic were considerable. In rowing on any river where tliis kind
of ferry is in use, it behoves the steerer to have a sharp look out for the rope.
This is frequently just at the level of a rower's neck, and if run into imobserved,
will give the man rowing bow a dangerous blow, severe of course in proportion
to the pace at which the boat happens to be travelling at the moment. Other
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THE FERRY. 79
ferries are worked with the ordinary piinting-pole, or by means of a chain which
lies at the bottom of the river, and is passed round the axle of a wheel on
board the boat.
On several of the more rapid rivers that we have rowed down abroad there
are ferries of the same description as in our illustration, but ingeniously worked
by steering only ; the pressure of the stream is employed as the propelling force,
precisely as a sailing-vessel uses a side wind.
The tolls for horses vary, at the different ferries on the Thames, from one
penny to threepence ; some belonging to the Thames Conservancy are free for
barge horses.
Foot-passengers are charged a ha^penny at all the ferries; and that the
fare for each person was the same some three or four hundred years ago, we
have the evidence of one of the " Hundred Merry Tales," printed by John
Rastell in 1526. The tale is the seventy-fourth, and is to this effect: "A
courtyer and a frere happenyd to mete togyder in a fery boat, and in commu-
nycacyon betwene them, fell at wordys angry and dyspleasyd eche with other,
and fought and strogled togyder, so that at the last the courtyer cast the
frere over the bote, so was the frere drowned. The fer3rman, whiche had been
a man of warre the moste parte of his l)rfe before, and seynge the frere so
drowned and gon, sayd thus to the courtyer, * I beshrewe thy hart thou sholdest
have taryed and foughte with him a lande, for now thou hast caused me to
lose an hal^eny for my fare.' "
This curious old book, from which we have before quoted, is interesting as
being the only book that Shakspere has mentioned by name. In Much Ado
About Nothings Benedick suggests that Beatrice is indebted for her wit to the
"Himdred Merry Tales:" much as we might nowadays allude to Joe Miller's
jest-book.
The proper construction of ferry-boats was in old times thought a sufficiently
important matter to be regulated by law. We find, for instance, in an Act
passed in the reign of William and Mary the following : —
"That if any person or persons whatsoever, from henceforth do or shal
make any whiry or boate, to the entent commonly to use rowing and carying
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LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES.
people uppon the sayd river of Thamis, whych shall not bee two and twenty
foote and halfe in length, and fower foote and a halfe broade in the mydsh3rppe
or which shall not bee substancyally and well hable and sufiycient to cary two
personnes on every side tyght accordinge to the old quantitie, scantlyng, thyck-
nesse of boorde, goodnesse, and good proporcion, heretofore hadd and used:
that then the same boat or boates, so being made contrary to the proporcion
and sort before expressed, shalbe taken as forfayt, and shalbe forfayt, y« one
halfe thereof to the Kinge and Queenes majesties use, and to the use and
successours of the Queenes majestie, and y« other halfe to him or them that
will sue, &c., wherein no wager of lawe, &c., shalbe allowed."
The box-like arrangement of boards in the foregroimd of our illustration,
of which the ducks seem to have taken temporary possession, is for use as a
landing-stage when the river rises above the level of its banks.
Dalhchicks.
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CHAPTER XIV.
FEEDING DUCKS.
"Where the duck dabbles *mid the rustling sedge,
And feeding pike starts from the water's edge."
Wordsworth.
^ HE farther up the river one proceeds, the more important does
one find the rearing of the common duck to be to the menage of
those living on the banks. By the time we reach that part of
the stream at which the navigation ceases, we find that the
people count their ducks by hundreds. Having perhaps heard
of this, one expects to see great numbers of them ; but as they
separate into companies of ten or twelve, and are scattered
over large marshy and swampy districts, their numbers would never be sus-
pected.
It is only while they are very young that they are fed and housed, chiefly
with a view to protecting them from their natural enemies — the rat, the weasel,
the hawk, and the pike. The ducklings are carefully fed on cold boiled oatmeal
porridge, cooked vegetables mixed up with barley-meal, crushed oats thrown
into water, and a little milk when convenient. As soon as they begin to be
fledged they are turned out to get their own living, and are usually left un-
molested by their owner till they are wanted for the table. He knows the
haunt of each drake, and careftiUy notes the number of ducks in its company,
so that if any should be missing he is soon aware of the fact.
Of course, they often appear in one's bill of fare in these parts ; and we
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84 LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES,
have found them excellent, having just a suggestion of the wild-duck flavour
that the nature of their food has induced. The rearing of them must be a source
of considerable profit, attended with very little outlay indeed.
A brood generally attaches itself to the homestead, and is, by a pleasing
fiction, often supposed to belong to the children of the house, who may be seen
sharing their bread-and-butter with their pets. One day we saw an old drake
come slily behind a little girl and make oflf with the whole slice, instead of
sharing the crumbs that were being given to the ducks, and we have accordingly
made the incident serve as our illustration to this subject.
The white breed of ducks represented in our drawing is the kind known
as the Aylesbury, and is the highest in repute throughout the district. From
Miss Watts's capital little work on i>oultry we glean the following facts con-
cerning them : —
Aylesbury ducks must be very large, perfectly white in plumage, with yellow
legs and feet, and flesh-coloured bills. Dark spots or streaks on the bills have
lost many fine pens their prizes. Such blemishes may arise from the ducks
frequenting peaty land; to get fair, unsullied bills is a great trouble to exhi-
bitors. A good pen of three— drake and two ducks— will weigh twenty-three
or twenty-four pounds ; even twenty-six pounds and a quarter has been reached.
Early ducks for the London market are brought up in great numbers by the
cottagers of Aylesbury and other parts of Buckinghamshire, who rear them
with the greatest care, sharing their cottages with them.
Rouen ducks, which in plumage resemble the wild duck to a great extent,
are next in repute to the white ducks, and are more often met with on the river,
though little trouble is taken to keep different breeds distinct : the reason being
that the fishermen never rear ducks with any intention of exhibiting them.
Most of the common ducks lay eggs with a green-tinged shell, but the pure-bred
Aylesburys lay quite white eggs.
Oats, whole or bruised, thrown into a pan of water, are the chief means
used for fattening ducks. The desired result is obtained without difficulty :
they are so willing to aid the work themselves.
It is a mistake to rob the duck of her privilege of sitting and rearing her
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FEEDING DUCKS.
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own little ones, for the following reasons : When judiciously placed, not un-
necessarily interfered with during sitting, and circumscribed in her ramblings
with her ducklings when she gets them, she is a good sitter and a good mother.
Ducks hatched and reared by a hen. bear out the old game-fowl breeder's ideas
of the sitter's influence on the brood she hatches and rears, and are not good
as stock-birds, like those incubated and reared by their own kind. Mr. Hewitt,
and other authorities equally to be depended upon, state that ducks reared
by hens are particularly troublesome and mischievous in a farmyard, from
preferring the companionship of hens to that of ducks.
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CHAPTER XV.
THE FORD.
*< Across the splashing ford the beasts plod on;
Foot follows foot, Mrhile the dark and shallow stream
Flashes beneath their feUocks."
Bowles.
^ROM the general appearance of the current of the Thames and
its many gravelly shallows, it must naturally have been as
well suited for fording as most rivers. However, at the present
day, the ford, as a fact, is nearly obsolete on the Thames ; as
a word, it still survives all along the course of the river, and
is an interesting example of what Dr. Trench so aptly notes
as the "history in words." There is a considerable number
of towns and villages in its neighbourhood with their names terminating in this
syllable; and these places were all, no doubt, originally what their names
imply. The reasons for the disuse of the fords as a means of crossing the
stream are not far to seek. It was, in the first place, doubtless the establish-
ment of the ferries, as being more commodious and less dangerous than the
fords, that led in most cases to their gradual abandonment. The ferries, again,
in their turn, have nearly everywhere yielded place to bridges— first, probably,
wooden ones, then stone, down to the ugly suspension-bridge of our own
iron age.
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" What man that sees the ever- whirling wheel
Of Change, the which all mortal things doth sway,
But that thereby doth find, and plainly feel.
How Mutability in them doth play
Her cruel sports?"
The efforts that have been made for the improvement of the stream as regards
the navigation have done more perhaps than anything else towards abolishing
the fords. In a previous chapter we have referred to the introduction of the
lock and weir system as having, by deepening the shallow parts of the river,
altered the character of the stream in a manner prejudicial to the well-being
of the trout. At the same time many of the fords must have, by this alteration
in the depth of the water, been rendered impassable. Besides this, the ballasting
of the channel, so as to make it sufficiently deep to carry a loaded barge, has
put fording almost out of the question, unless for a short time during excep-
tionally dry seasons. The draught of water required for a loaded barge is
usually reckoned at about two feet and a half.
Though, from the reasons we have stated, well-nigh banished from the
main stream, fords are still occasionally to be met with on the different tribu-
taries of the Thames. Perhaps the spot which has been most frequently found
available for the purpose is at a short distance below a mill-tail. Here the
gravel and sand usually silts up so as to form a wide shallow extending all
across the stream — the very place for a ford. Many of our landscape painters
have selected the ford as a subject for their art, and have generally found that
it makes a pleasing picture. Engravings of such scenes have always appealed
successfully to the English taste. Callcott's well-known painting has been many
times reproduced by engraving on steel, copper, wood, and by chromo-litho-
graphy, and seems bound, at intervals, to reappear in the shop windows. Lately
another engraving of a ford has been published, which bids fair to be equally
popular. If we recollect rightly, it is the joint work of Messrs. Creswick and
Ansdell, and bears the pleasant title of " The Shortest Way in Summer-time."
The river is still occasionally forded by the hay-carts when it so happens
that the meadow is the other side of the stream from the homestead, and there
is no bridge available without a long journey round. It was one of these
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LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES.
instances that gave us the opportunity of sketching our illustration to this
chapter.
We might here give an account of how Julius Caesar and his army crossed
the river at a ford which they found to have been ** staked " by the Britons,
but the spot * at which this event occurred is farther down than our limit, and
the incident itself is hardly within the proposed range of our treatment of these
subjects. Moreover, a very interesting narration of the circumstance is to be
found in Mr. and Mrs. S. C. Hall's " Book of the Thames," to which charming
work we have much pleasure in referring our readers.
• The place is still called Coway Stakes.
Cmvs in Water.
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CHAPTER XVL
WATER-LILIES.
•«.... Level lilies."
Keats.
iREAT white water-lily is the English name under which the
NympfuBa alba is found in our botanical books, and this simple
wording has always seemed to us more really poetical than
the "queen of the waters," and other grand titles by which
it is intended to do it honour. The plain words great white
water-lily are perfect in description, calling up the plant to
one's mind as no other phrase does; and, moreover, seem to
us suggestive of a beauty "large, and languishing, and lazy." To bestow
grand epithets here would be to bring one too literally under the charge of
painting the lily and gilding refined gold.
The name Nymphcm is said to have been given to the plant on account of
its growing in places which the nymphs were supposed to haunt : a supposition
crediting the water-nymphs with undeniable taste.
The landscape-gardener has often availed himself of the water-lily as an
ornamental plant when the bed of a lake or pond may have been suited for
its cultivation. Both this species and the yellow water-lily* may be easily
grown in pools or such slow streams as have a muddy and not a gravelly
bottom. The best method of propagating these plants is to procure some of
• Nuphar lutea.
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their seed-vessels just as they are ripe and ready to open, and to throw them
into the water. The seeds will sink to the bottom, and the following spring
the leaves of the young plants will appear floating upon the surface. When
they are once fixed to the place, they will multiply exceedingly, so as to cover
the whole pool in a few years. They may also be cultivated in large troughs
or cisterns of water, having earth at the bottom, and will flourish very well
in them, annually producing a great quantity of flowers. The roots, which
are frequently the size of the human arm, are said to have an astringent, bitter
taste, and to yield a dye of a chestnut or dark brown colour, which is used in
Ireland and the highlands of Scotland. This plant is a native of most parts
of Europe, flowering in July and August. Both it and the yellow water-lily
are called watercan or candock, and watersocks in some counties of England.
For a luxuriant growth of this plant, as before stated, the chief requirements
appear to be deep water with a soft soil below, and little or no stream. It
so happens that the many back-waters on the Thames fulfil these conditions to
a nicety, and consequently our favourite comes to such perfection in these
places as we have never elsewhere encountered.
The back-waters of the Thames ! To those who know the river well, what
pleasant spots and good times must these words recall ! Each person is con-
fident that he knows certain nooks which surpass in beauty anything that any
one else may be acquainted with ; and so seldom are these sanctuaries invaded
that the enjoyment is enhanced by the feeling that one is the real possessor,
who, as the French proverb says, is often quite other than the proprietor.
The sentiment of stillness, repose, and delightful retirement from the busy
world, is none the less pleasant because one is not quite out of earshot of a
traffic that passes up and down the quiet highway. One hears, perhaps, the
distant smack of the whip, as
**By the margin, willow-vefled,
Slide the heavy barges, trailed
By slow horses ; '*
or it may be the regular splash of some light sculling craft as she suddenly comes
into hearing, and then dies away with a rapidity that tells of straining muscles
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WATER-LILIES. 95
and active exertion, which seem the natural complement to our lazy enjoyment
of the quiet. On the landward side, probably the sole sound will be " the
ring-dove's plaint, moan'd from the twilight centre of the grove," with pauses
<* So that a whl«pering blade
Of grass, a wailful gnat, a bee bustling
Down in the blue-bells, or a vrren light rustling
Among sere leaves and twigs, might all be heard."
To those who may not be acquainted with the word " back-water," it may
be as well to explain that it is used to denote a side-stream with no thorough-
fare, there being some such obstruction as that caused by eel-bucks or a
mill-dam. Occasionally, and they are the most beautiful, these back-waters
are owing to natural causes, the obstruction being the neck of land which
connects some tiny peninsula with one of the river-banks.
Besides the attractive beauty of the pure white and golcl of the blossom, the
leaves of the water-lily are, in their way, quite as fine studies of colour. Their
under side has always a tint of purplish red, that looks well when by chance
one leaf gets turned over amongst the others ; but it is as the leaves approach
decay that they assume what we may call their sunset hues. The shades of
colour vary from pale lemon yellow to orange tawny, with frequently a ring of
delicate green still left in the centre of the leaf. On this varied yellow soon
appear black spots, which at first contrast splendidly with the ground, but after-
wards, as they spread, " slowly moulder all." The size to which these leaves
occasionally grow is somewhat remarkable. We have measured fine specimens
when we have come across them, and have frequently found them to be as
much as seventeen inches long ; the largest of all that we have met with was
over eighteen inches and a half in length by seventeen inches and a half in
width. The comparatively still parts of the river, where these leaves abound,
are generally favourite haunts of the pike, which may be often observed lying
almost motionless near the surface.
The flowers rise above the water under the influence of light, and expand
only during sunshine, in the middle of the day. Towards evening they close
and sink beneath the surface. This fact in the natural history of the water-lily
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has been noticed in Tennyson's daintiest of poems, and the lines to which we
allude will fitly conclude our chapter: —
«Now sleeps the crimson petal, now the white;
Nor waves the cypress in the palace walk;
Nor winks the gold fin in the porphyry font :
• • • •
Now folds the lily all her sweetness up
And slips into the bosom of the lake :
So fold thyself, my dearest, thou, and slip
Into my bosom, and be lost in me."
Sedge-TBarhlers,
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PERCH FISHING.
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CHAPTER XVII.
PERCH-FISHING.
*<I in these flowery meads would be,
Their crystal streams should solace me,
To whose harmonious bubbling noise
I with my angle, would rejoice."
IzAAK Walton.
E cannot help half envying the all-absorbing earnestness with
which a youngster can fish. To us " grown-ups," who say we
are fond of fishing, the sport is at best but a lazy recreation,
and but a half escape from dull care ; while to him, for the
time being, it is pleasure keen and intense, without a shade
of afterthought.
John Younger has written with true sympathy of such a
" laddie " :—
«He*8 lord ot a' round him as far as he sees,
The rivers are his, and the tall forest trees:
Our lairds may entail them, and ca' them their ain,
But our first parents' richt does the laddie maintain.
<< He's free as the lav'rock that mounts to the cFuds,
Scare him frae the streamlet, he starts to the woods,
Enjoys with the squirrel, crab, nut, bush, or tree.
It can spang but a twig or twa higher than he."
As Thackeray said, he never saw an Eton boy without wishing to give him
half a sovereign, so our heart warms to these young urchins, and we find
them a hook or two or a stray piece of gut-line, and enjoy the look that the
;
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100 LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES.
pleasures of hope call up into the face. Your country lad is, no less than
his sharper brother of the towTi, a willing picker-up " of unconsidered trifles."
Maybe our young angler is a truant from school, and, though we ought
not to approve, we confess that it is somewhat consoling to reflect that he
is, at all events, a pupil in the school where patience, the lesson of life, is
taught. For angling does teach that lesson, and if our young friend has
neglected his school-tasks, we will hope that, like the poet, he finds his
"books in the running brooks."
Apparently he knows where the perch are to be caught, and has probably
tried the deep water round the camp-shedding* before with good results, and
so clambers on to the extreme post, reckless of the danger of his "perch."
And if he should, in the exciting moment of striking a "big'un," lose his
balance, he will only be taking his customary bath a little earlier than usual
this fine summer's day. Towards evening we know that he and a troop of
his amphibious young friends will make the water lively for an hour or two
at the nearest sandy shallow, taking to the water as naturally, and swimming
as easily, as water-rats. The thistles on the bank just coming into bloom,
and the abundance of wild flowers, tell that it is the hottest time of the year,
for the river-side is comparatively poor in its show of colour till after Mid-
summer is past. In the early part of the summer the general aspect of the
banks is a somewhat monotonous green, delightfully broken, however, with
the delicate blush of the fragile wild rose, and the bold stare of the ox-eye
daisy.
"The Perch," says dear old Izaak Walton, "is not only valiant to defend
himself, but he is a bold-biting fish; yet he will not bite at all seasons of
the year; he is very abstemious in winter, yet will bite then in the midst
of the day, if it be warm ; and note that all fish bite best about the midst
of a warm day in winter. And he hath been observed, by some, not usually
to bite till the mulberry-tree buds ; that is to say, till extreme frosts be past
the spring; for, when the mulberry-tree blossoms, many gardeners observe
• A word of doubtrul etymology, sometimes spelt camp-siding : it is loosely used to designate any wood-
work at the side of the water.
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PERCH-FISHING.
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their fon^^ard finiit to be past the danger of frosts ; and some have the like
observations of the perch's biting.
"But bite the perch will, and that very boldly. And, as one has wittily
observed, if there be twenty or forty in a hole, they may be at one standing
all catched one after another; they being, as he says, like the wicked of the
world, not afraid, though their fellows and companions perish in their sight.
"And if you rove for a perch with a minnow, then it is best to be alive,
you sticking your hook through his back fin; or a minnow with the hook in
his upper lip, and letting him swim up and down, about mid- water, or a
little lower, and you still keeping him to about that depth by a cork, which
ought not to be a very little one; and the like way you are to fish for the
perch with a small frog, your hook being fastened through the skin of his
leg, towards the upper part of it ; and lastly, I will give you but this advice,
that you give the perch time enough when he bites ; for there was scarce
ever any angler that has given him too much."
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CHAPTER XVIII.
CARRYING OVER AT A WEIR.
. Ambagibus errant.'*
Ovid.
T occasionally happens that some of the up-country weirs are
not to be passed through without considerable difficulty. It
is often wiser, and saves time, to drag the boat over (if you
can), rather than pass through ; but this must be a matter
for consideration at the time. In ascending the stream, the
chief difficulty at these weirs arises from the fact of only a
few of the paddles and rimers being removed for the passage
of small boats. The consequence is such a rush or fall of water that it is
impossible to make headway. The best way to get up is to fasten the tow-line
to the head of the boat, and gradually pull her through. The weir-keeper
generally stands on the bridge, and, with a boat-hook or a long pole, guides
the boat and helps to get it up. As a rule, unless all the weir-paddles
are removed, you will not get through by any other method. Going down
is different, and much easier, though, to inexperienced persons, somewhat
dangerous. The main point is to row very steadily, keeping the boat's head
straight to the centre of the opening, just before reaching which the oars
must be shipped; the oars should, however, be kept ready to be used the
moment you are past, as the stream rushing through sometimes causes a
strong back current.
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CARRYING OVER AT A WEIR, 105
Carrying over is frequently necessary when locks are undergoing repair.
In this case the workmen usually drag the boat over for the rowers, and
the toll has to be paid just as if the boat had passed through the lock. We
may add that the toll is due when a lock is passed under any circumstances,
so that avoiding the lock itself by carrying over, or by passing down a side-
stream, is an evasion of a legal charge.
When carrying over is decided upon, it is advisable to lighten the boat
as much as possible by taking everything movable out of it. It is then
hauled up by the painter and the bows, and a roller placed under the keel;
as more of the boat is got on to the land, another roller is placed under the
keel at the bows as before. These rollers facilitate the passage ol the boat
over land very much, and, if proper ones are not at hand, almost any piece
of wood will do as a substitute ; the gfreat thing is to make the boat slide on
an even keel and not on its side.
For the purpose of travelling, a boat built of pine is preferable to one of
oak, on account of its gfreater lightness; when much carrying over has to
be done, it will be found that the difference in the exertion required is con-
siderable. Travelling on this and other rivers is becoming yearly more and
more fashionable. We would refer any of our readers who may contemplate
a first cruise to Taunt's Map and Guide of the Thames, not only for the
information implied in its title, but for a variety of hints that will be found
useful to a travelling crew anywhere. With reference to the weirs, we have
availed ourselves of some of its pages, which we found both practical and
concise. Mr. Taunt's plan, in preference to camping out on the bank, has
been to fit his boat up for sleeping in, and he seems to have found it
answer admirably. His method is as follows: —
"When arranging for the night the awning is raised and fastened, then a
side covering of good plain duck, secured with strings all round to the iron
which holds the awning, and fixed below the seats of the boat with loops to
buttons, thus completely enclosing the middle part of the boat. Between the
side seats we place boards, fitted on purpose (these go on the side seats,
under the cushions, in the daytime), and the cushions on the top, with our
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LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES.
carpet-bags at the head, form the mattress, which is made complete by a rug
thrown over, and blankets or rugs make up the interior of our sleeping-room.
On the outside a line is stretched from mast to mast, and on this are threaded
the rings of a waterproof, each end ring being stretched to its mast, and
eyelet-holes in each comer fastened to buttons on the boat. Thus we have
a watertight, dry sleeping-place, and anything but an uncomfortable one.
"We found it a very great advantage to have two short iron ripecks,
with cords attached to the head and stern of the boat: these moored us to
any place, and were convenient at all times. We need hardly say, do not
moor on the tow-path bank, or you may chance to find yourself in a mess
from the towing-line of some passing barge catching in your upper works."
Peewits,
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CHAPTER XIX.
CAMPING OUT.
. . Sub Jove fidgido."
Horace.
I OR ourselves, we must confess that the idea of camping out
at the side of the river has never possessed sufficient attrac-
tion to counterbalance its many obvious disadvantages. The
risk of rheumatism and concomitant evils is, in our opinion,
too serious to be encountered for a whim. During the travel-
ling that we have done on diflferent rivers, we have always
felt the cheerful light of an inn to be a pleasant change
from the gathering gloom of evening out of doors. An ** al fresco " limch is,
of course, quite proper, and nowhere more enjoyable than under ^* well-
shading trees ; " but if a man is really doing his work, rowing or anything
else, he should at all events (when he can) dine well. We have no wish
to disparage the many ingenious contrivances for cooking, the tinned and
potted delicacies, &c., that our camping friends go in for ; but, after all, they
are but makeshifts, tolerable only when better are not to be had. There are
cases — as at Henley, for instance, during the regatta time — ^when every inn for
miles up and down the river is full to overflowing; then we allow that a tent
is a very valuable addition to the impedimenta of a travelling crew. It removes
the uneasy feeling that shelter for the night may not be obtainable, and gives
the comforting assurance that, as a last resource, there is a house at hand that
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no LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES.
can be crept into. However, like Charles Lamb, we give the preference to ** the
sweet security of streets."
After sundown all rivers have a weird, mysterious appearance, not, indeed,
without a peculiar beauty, but of a kind that we should hardly characterise
as cheerful. A river, when one is on it after dark, looks like a lake from
which no outlet is discernible; and the water might be ink from its appear-
ance. The hoarse roar of a weir is particularly impleasant at night, when
its distance and exact position have to be gfuessed at — "omne ig^otum pro
terribili."
On the other hand, when the days are at their longest and the moon
is full, then, indeed, if the weather should be perfectly fine, we will grant
that the river is most beautiful after sunset. To take a boat then, and lazily
drop down the river, listening to the measured splash of the oars, has given
us a sense of tranquil enjoyment, in its way, unrivalled. It is, however, a very
different thing to plan a cruise in our uncertain climate with the detail of
spending the night under canvas whatever the weather may be.
Damp and cold are the chief things to be guarded against in the case ot
camping out, as witness the following remarks contributed by the captain
of the Rovers to Taunt's Map and Guide of the Thames : —
" Especial attention should be directed to the selection of a suitable piece
of land (that on a very slight incline is preferable), but, above all, the exclu-
sion of damp, the forenmner of acute rheumatism, should be carefully studied ;
a most terrible result may arise if this be not carefully attended to ; and,
although the land at the time of pitching the tent may be comparatively
baked by a burning sun, yet, ere morning, a damp mist peculiar to the river
will rise, that on many occasions has proved nearly fatal to incautious campers.
The mere covering the earth by a rug is quite insufficient, and the most effec-
tive material recommended is Croggon's Roofing Asphalte; this, although
rather large in bulk, is very light, and forms, when laid down, a most com-
fortable substitute for a mattress, and is thoroughly waterproof. It has been
foimd that the ordinary mackintosh, though smaller in bulk, is not so well
suited for the purpose.
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CAMPING OUT.
Ill
" In conclusion, we wish to recommend to the attention of our readers the
necessity of a plentiful supply of travelling rugs for coverings, as, although
the heat in the interior of a tent is invariably oppressive during the day and
evening, yet the atmosphere changes greatly in the early morning, and, with-
out plentiful covering, the occupants would possibly receive a chill that might
be productive of evil results."
Water^rails.
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CHAPTER XX.
BOYS BATHING.
*< This is the purest exercise of health.
The kind refresher of the summer heats.
Hence the limbs
Knit into force ; and the same Roman arm
That rose victorious o'er the conquer*d earth,
First leamM while tender to subdue the wave.*'
Thomson.
WIMMING, being a necessary part of the knowledge of self-
protection, should be part of every child's education. It is
clearly the duty of parents to see that their children are reared
to make themselves at home in the water ; if they neglect this,
they do their children wrong, Grreat credit is due to the
authorities at Eton for the system which almost ensures com-
petency in this art to every boy in the school; the result
being that out of a school averaging eight hundred, not one case of drowning
has occurred for many years ; and this, at a place where everybody seeks the
river as his natural out-of-doors home, makes Eton probably the first gymnasium
for swimmers in the world.
The manner of swimming properly is as follows : * — Supposing the bather
to be in the water, he throws himself forward on his belly, his whole body
* The only really good treatise on swimming that we are acquainted with, is a set of six papers that
appeared in BeWs Life in the winter of the year i86o~6i. Our remarks are mainly extracted from this
source, and we tender our best thanks to the able writer, who chose to remain anonymous.
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BOrS BATHING.
115
being only just covered by the water, and no more; his hands are brought
up under the chin, knuckles upwards, and with the first fingers touching each
other; the whole palm is slightly contracted so as to form a concave surface,
and the fingers are pressed closely together, to prevent the water escaping
between them. Man's hands are his paddles, and they must become, as
nearly as possible, watertight. The legs are drawn up as short and as near
the body as possible; the breath is fully inhaled; then the stroke is made:
the hands and feet are both darted forth to their fullest stretch at the same
moment; the former are still kept close to each other, and the balls of the
toes are made to touch, in which position they remain unmoved till the whole
stroke is finished. The hands, fully extended, are then separated, and move
round, each describing part of a circle, till they are opposite the shoulders,
and then the stroke is finished. But observe that which is of most conse-
quence: the exhalation of the breath begins with the stroke, and is slowly
continued as long as the striking lasts ; indeed, the quantity of breath
determines how long the stroke will be, for it is taken only once at every
stroke. It is very measuredly given out by a good swimmer; and all the
time he is breathing forth, he brings his hands round, making the lungs and
the hands work and cease together. The legs all the while, after the first
rapid kick, remain stretched out rigidly, with the heels quite close to the
water surface ; thus a flat position is secured, which gfreatly conduces to speed.
The hands are only slightly propulsive ; their chief use is to act as a cut-
water — cleaving the way for the body, but much more to prolong the impetus
given by the legs, and to eke it out to the utmost. The breath acts as a
float to the whole, and cannot be too carefully husbanded and proportioned
to the long sweep of the arms. A swimming stroke resembles that of an oar
in its perfection, for it is quick forward, evenly pulled out, and the recovery
for a new stroke is rapid; and on these two things, namely, lying truly
horizontal just under the surface of the water, and proper treatment of the
breath, the art of swimming depends.
In entering the water head foremost, or " taking a header," as it is called,
the water should be struck by the forehead bone, just below the hair — ^the
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1 16 LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES.
hands having first cloven the water, as shown in our drawing. The angle
which the body should form with the water should be less than half a right
angle, or from thirty-five to forty degrees. Then recovery upwards is rapid,
and the appearance of the whole graceful. Adepts have brought this branch
of the art to such perfection that they can jump into less than two feet of
water without touching the bottom.
Bishop Selwyn, a great name among all Etonians, was a perfect master of
this accomplishment, and became quite a model to aspirants in that way.
Here are two of his feats when a private tutor at Eton. There was a thorn-
bush overhanging the river above Windsor, of such dimensions that no one could
clear it by jumping feet foremost ; he, therefore, went at it with his head,
throwing himself in a long curve clean over, and alighting, from a height of
at least ten feet, in the perfectly composed and gracefiil attitude always
preserved in his headers. It is related of him, when going down in a sink-
ing boat, that he would not allow his feet to be first wetted, but, standing
on his seat, took a dexterous header before the boat disappeared. Like
Ulysses, firom his raft he disdained to be swept off, but anticipated his ducking
by a voluntary plunge, when, as Homer has it,
<' Headlong he smote the sea with outstretched hands,
Eager to swim.*'
In fresh water a strong swimmer will move fully five feet and a half at
every stroke, without great exertion. How many strokes he will make in a
minute must depend on his breathing capacity; twenty-five to twenty-six
would probably be the average. This will give fifty-eight yards per minute,
or just two miles an hour; and we should think to accomplish that pace
without distress would be a fair criterion of a good swimmer. At racing
pace the strokes are much more rapid, exceeding fifty per minute; and the
highest speed that seems attainable is thus eighty-eight yards, or exactlj^
three miles an hour.
As to man's power of swimming great distances, it is not easy to give
correct statistics. It is easier to rectify false popular notions on the subject.
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BOYS BATHING. 117
Men have often remained many hours in the sea, swimming considerable
distances for their lives; but the circumstances must prevent anything like
measurement of the space traversed and time occupied. The truth is that to
a perfect swimmer the length of his swim is solely a question of temperature.
Cold arrests the swimmer, not fatigue.
A child's breathing is much more affected by immersion in cold water
than is the case with an adult. If the breath be caught up painfully and
convulsively, there is an end of all swimming at that bathe, for such condi-
tion of the lungs involves a gfreat prostration of power. It is of little use
to attempt a lesson with one of tender years, if the water be below sixty-five
degrees.
As to the natural gifts requisite for making a good swimmer, they are
symmetry and strength (especially of leg), but above all is needed a capacious
chest. Only a frog can beat him in symmetry of motion. The frog is man's
true model, excelling him, however, in one point of formation, viz., the knee-
joint opening and shutting scissors-like and flat, not doubling up under-
neath as the human limb.
The method of teaching swimming by the use of the belt is shown in our
illustration. It is an excellent plan, as the man holding the pole from which
the belt is suspended can slacken it at pleasure, and even unloose it, with-
out the pupil's knowledge, who thus learns to swim "before he knows it."
Confidence, which is such an essential part of the business, is thus suddenly
acquired, and progfress is then generally certain and rapid. The use of corks
or bladders is obviously without the special advantage of the belt to which
we have called attention. Teaching to swim by this means is common at the
seaside resorts in France, where it has been pleasantly called, "fishing for
sharks with a human bait."
To one of our brother artists, Mr. J. P. Davis, who is quite an authority
on all that concerns swimming, we naturally applied for some hints as to
what to say on the subject of bathing in the Thames. From his letter in
reply we extract the following passage, both on account of its hearty elo-
quence and the usefiil caution contained in it: "The best thing connected
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LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES.
with swimming is a dive into the foaming water of a weir, taking care not
to go too deep; for if you get into the dead water under the swirl, it is
difficult to get up again to the surface. But just catch the crest of the wave
that forms under the fall, and you seem to get into living water, that seems
quite aerated, and grasps you, and whirls you away, like young Romilly,
*with a merciless force.' The recollection of the bright summer mornings,
when a little thin mist lay white over the sparkling water ! Eheu fugaces !
The rushing of the waters is sounding in my ears now — that recollection, I
say, like Aaron's rod, swallows all the rest."
Frogs,
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CHAPTER XXL
RUSH-CUTTING.
" The water scyd yf ye lyste to sekc me ye shal be sure erer to have me under a tofte of
green rushys or ellys in a woman's eye."
Hundred Merry Tales,
\ ORE rushes, more rushes," are the first words of the last scene
of Shakspere's play of King Henry IV., Part II. They are
spoken by "two grooms strewing rushes in a public place
near Westminster Abbey," in preparation for the return of
Henry V. firom the ceremony of his coronation.
It was customary, before carpets were in general use, to
strew the floors of halls, galleries, and chambers with rushes,
in order to protect the trains of gowns and long kirtles from dust : — " Where's
the cook? Is supper ready, the house trimmed, rushes strewed, cobwebs
swept?" [Taming of the Shrew ^ Act IV. Sc. i.) Distinguished guests were
always provided with a clean and tresh supply of rushes. Thus Lilly says,
** Strangers have green rushes, when daily guests are not worth a rush." This
last phrase has remained in common use, though its peculiar significance is
probably known to few. The day of a church's dedication was called the
Hush-bearing, from the ancient custom of carrying this plant to adorn the
xiewly-consecrated edifice.
In our own time we find the rush appearing only in the most humble posi-
tions. The rush-bottomed chair and the farthing rush-light occur to the mind
as indicating now the most familiar use of the plant for purposes of manufacture.
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122 LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES.
We have been told by those who cut and sell the rushes* that the coopers
are great consumers of them, inserting them between the wood in barrels to
prevent leakage. They are largely employed also in making mats and baskets.
Cottages are sometimes thatched, and pack-saddles stuffed with them. They are
of a soft, pliant texture, totally destitute of the roughness and cutting edges of
many grass-like plants. Occasionally, in hard seasons, cattle will feed upon the
rushes. The cutting and drying of them is a branch of industry usually carried
on by the same individual who rents the fishing — a reach of two or three miles
being generally about the extent of one of these water-farms, if we may use
the expression. Our subject is the principal water-plant whose cultivation is
attended to ; the flag and reed, though somewhat in the same category, being
little in request. It forms no exception to the general rule that water-plants
are, from their position, rapid growers. The rush begins to show itself towards
the end of April, and is ftiU grown in June, blooming in July and August. The
blossom is of a reddish brown colour, and the effect in a mass is striking from
its contrast to the cool green of the rest of the plant. There is nothing more
varied in picturesque effect than the rush, owing to the great difference that
light, shade, and distance produce upon it — sometimes making it appear of a
delicate greyish colour, almost blue ; in other positions a vivid green ; while,
in comparison with surrounding plants, it often appears nearly black.
The rush harvest is usually in the month of Augfust, when the cutter uses
a reaping-hook fixed to a long pole, so that he may the more easily reach to
the fiiU length of the plant under the water. After having reaped his crops,
so to speak, he ties them in bundles, and carries them home in the punt, to
spread them out in a field near his dwelling. Here they are left to dry in the
sun, as grass is for hay, and require no less attention. They take longer,
however, in the process, being a fortnight or three weeks drying. The bundles
are at one time placed together like sheaves of com, at another time they are
untied and the rushes laid out separately in long rows on the grass, presenting
the appearance of curious dark bands across the meadow. In the first case
* The botanical name for the larger rush is Scirpus lacustris ; of the smaller one, usually found in
low-lying pastures, Juncus conglomeratus.
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RUSH-CUTTING. 123
a young tree is often chosen as the central support, and the arrangement has
struck us as quaint and not unpleasing to the eye : our vigfnette at the end
of this chapter illustrates the mode of drying the rushes.
From its original bulk when newly cut the rush shrinks a great deal. We
found, from actual measurement, that a newly cut shock of sixty-eight inches
in circumference diminished to forty-two inches — a considerable diflference,
showing how largely water must enter into the composition of its tissues. A
dry bimdle tightly tied, measuring forty inches round, is called a " bolt," and
is sold under this name at an average price of one shilling. When stored in a
bam or out-house, the rush gives forth a delicious perfume, somewhat resembling
that of sweetest meadow-hay, but easily distinguishable from it. If not cut,
the rush fades and withers at the approach of winter, presenting a peculiarly
woe-begone appearance. Its one simple and beautifxd curve is soon broken,
and a bed of this plant in decay presents the appearance of a very tangled
skein indeed.
We quote the following interesting paragraph on the rush from Sowerby's
"English Botany," only with a protest against the "proverbial" expression
" worthlessness," as not being in accordance with fact : —
"Rushes are met with in moist, barren soil in most parts of the world,
but chiefly aboimd in cold and temperate climates. The almost utter worth-
lessness of the species in human economy is proverbial, but in that of nature
they form an important series. Vegetating where few other plants can find
subsistence, they assist in binding the loose sand upon the sea-shore, and
cover the bleak and barren heath and moor with a verdure that, without them,
must be wanting. In these situations they serve, by their thick tufts of leaves,
to retain the light particles of richer soil which are washed by the rains from
parts more elevated, adding to the collection by their own annual decay,
until the unwholesome swamp or useless sand abounds with the necessary
materials of fruitfulness and cultivation."
Though most of the beds of the rushes are of nature's growing, yet sometimes
they are the result of the fisherman's forethought. They are propagated by
seed, and a suitable swampy position is selected. At the season of the year
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LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES.
when the water is at its lowest, the seed is trodden into the soft gfround of
the " flam," as such oozy places are called. The little plantation takes five or
six years to grow before it is reckoned strong enough to be serviceable. A
full-grown stock, however strong and healthy, is not cut oftener than every
alternate year, as, if too rashly thinned, the bed will die away altogether.
The plant of our illustrations, Scirpus lacustrts^ is the bulrush proper of
the botanist, but this name is often popularly misapplied to the reed-mace or
cat- tail, Typha lati folia.
Rushes Drying,
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CHAPTER XXIL
BALLASTING.
* The Thames Navigation too is at a stand : Miso-mud and Anti-shoal most go to work again directly.'*
Sheridan's Critic^ Act I. Sc. 2.
^Y "ballasting" is meant raising the gravel, &c., trom the bed
of the river. The channel is thereby deepened, and the navi-
gation consequently facilitated during the dry months : during
the rainy season, the passage of the surplus water is thus
materially assisted, and the chance of floods diminished. As
to the extent to which the floods in this district might be
prevented, Mr. Ghreville Ffennell writes as follows: —
"The conditions, which have to be taken into account, if thoroughly
examined, might render a knowledge of the approach of floods a matter almost
of certainty. It is, however, still a source of reproach that the possibility of
their occurrence should be admitted above Oxford, as these inundations are
du-ectly the result of mechanical obstructions capable of removal. Indeed,
certain alterations and doubtless improvements of late years had caused a
few of our sanatory reformers to indulge in the hope that a flood in Oxfordshire
had become merely matter of history. The last week's experience must, how-
ever, have dispelled such a delusion; and those who are not satisfied with
evidences from terra firma have but to look around from the leads of the
Ratcliffe Library to witness the great extent to which the inundation reaches,
affecting, as it does, not only the counties of Oxfordshire, Berkshire, and Buck-
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128 LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES.
inghamshire, but those of Northamptonshire, Gloucestershire, and Warwick-
shire, which supply the respective rivers of the Cherwell, Wenlode, Isis, Ray,
Thame, Windrush, and other important watercourses of the Upper Thames
valleys. Dr. Acland, about the year 1850, pointed out the serious natures of
these floods in an able work, taking for his text, *How much our climate
affects the heads and hearts, especially of the finest tempers, is hard to be
believed by men whose thoughts are not turned to such speculations.' This
eminent physician further drew these inferences from a series of most carefully
arranged statistics : * First, that the inhabitants of the Isis and Cherwell Valleys,
and of the lesser tributaries which pour into them, would have better health
if the ground they live upon were drier. Secondly, that the owners and the
cultivators of these same lands would have fuller purses if the waters were
under so regular and complete control as to avoid, as far as possible, the
extremes of over saturation and of drought respectively.' This was printed
nearly a quarter of a century ago! and it was then conceded that *both the
University and the city are becoming fully alive to these conclusions; and it
remains only for the occupiers of land to join committees already formed by
members of these two bodies,' &c. Yet Oxford is now, in 1874, literally
surrounded with water, which subjects those who would go from place to place
to take boat over what ought to be dry land, or to make considerable detours
if on foot or by horse. Many have followed Dr. Acland in this good work,
notably the energetic town clerk of Oxford, Mr. G. P. Hester, who, being
moreover a practical angler, and well acquainted with the whole of the aquatic
districts in question, might be presumed to bring convincing experience to
bear wakefuUy upon the slumbering faculties of those most interested. Then
came Dr. Haviland, with his fever and cancer maps of the Thames valley,
showing beyond a doubt that the inner margins of these visitations defined
the ravages of these diseases as clearly as it was possible to trace them. And
all this to no avail, for the infliction is as great as ever. Well may it be
asked by visitors to this otherwise most beautiful and highly favoured town :
How is it that a city situated on the chief river of a kingdom such as England,
should be subject to evils of which a small Dutch farmer would be ashamed ?
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BALLASTING.
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that, around a university town — a centre, therefore, of knowledge and intel-
lectual progress — up to nearly the end of the nineteenth century, such a state
of things should be allowed to exist?"
To much the same purpose wrote John Taylor more than two hundred
years ago: —
<* Were snch a business to be done in Flanders
Or Holland 'mongst th' industrious Netherlanders,
They to deepe passages would turn our hils,
To windmils they would change our water-mils,
All helpers unto this river they would ayd,
And all impediments should be destroyed."
Water-wagtails .
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CHAPTER XXIII.
GUDGEON-FISHING.
<* Come live with me and be my love,
And we will some new pleasures prove
Of golden sands and crystal brooks.
With silken lines and silver hooks."
D&. Donne.
^ERHAPS it may occur to some of our readers that such occu-
pations as this, and one or two others that we have drawn,
can hardly be classed as illustrations of the industries con-
nected with the river, of which this series mainly consists. We
would reply, that though to those who hire the punt and man
for the day, and sit comfortably discussing at intervals the
merits of pigeon-pie and claret-cup, the term "industrious"
would be somewhat ludicrously misapplied, yet to the man (hired with the
punt) it is quite another thing. What may be sport to us is serious work to
him, and probably not that part of his work most to his taste.
Roach, barbel, and gudgeon fishing present much the same appearance
to a casual observer. All three are best carried on from a punt at a spot
which is, by experience, known to be a good swim for the respective fish. In
gfudgeon-fishing it is chiefly necessary to rake the bed of the river well, to
plumb the depth, and to let the bait (a small red worm) just touch the bottom.
Raking the ground, and now and then throwing in a handfiil of river-sand,
are found to attract the gudgeon sufficiently, without the use ot any other
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GUDGEON-FISHING. 133
ground-bait. It is said that gudgeon are soon satiated, as their digestion is
slower than that of most fish. Thus to throw in any other food than the bait
on the hook would be attracting the fish to little purpose.
The man habitually sits astride the well of the punt with a flower-pot before
him, in which are the worms for bait. He is thus ready to detach the fish
from the hooks as soon as caught, dropping them into the well, and rebaiting
the hook, if necessary. The poles to which the punt is tied are called ri-pecks,
and they, as well as the punting-poles, are young larches grown for the
purpose. Ash or birch are used when the larch cannot be obtained, but the
latter is far preferable. This wood is found to resist the water, almost for ever,
without rotting. The piles of this timber, on which the houses of Venice were
built so many hundred years ago, are still as fresh as when first put in. Stakes
of it have been tried in the decoys of Lincolnshire, which, between wind and
water, have worn out two or three sets of oak-stakes without discovering any
symptoms of decay. The best larches for this purpose are grown on the side
of hills, thinly planted. They are then said to run up well, and to become
both flexible and tough.
But to return to our gudgeons. As many as twenty dozen of these little
fish are occasionally taken in the day. They are considerably in request for
the breakfast-table at the hotels on the river-banks, and are purchased from
the fishermen at sixpence the dozen.
Gudgeon are much used as bait when trolling for jack, and as a live bait
for various large fish. When the fisherman requires them for this purpose,
he seldom has recourse to the rod and line, but employs the casting-net, which
soon supplies him with as many as he wants.
Old anglers tell us that the gudgeon are on the decline in the Thames,
both as to number and size. They " remember the time " when eighty dozen
were to be taken in the day by the party in one punt. " Now, at the present
time, in a take of fifteen or sixteen dozen, it is seldom a really sizable fish
gets in the wells. If the extremity of the bye-laws of the fishery were carried
out, every gudgeon fisher, as he carries away his fish, would be indictable for
taking unsizable fish. The gudgeon are largely required as bait for the
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LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES.
anglers, and where minnows are not always to be had, they have to supply
their place. Thousands upon thousands are annually used as bait for night-
lines, and every effort should be made to prevent such an annihilating agency
from being employed at all. In addition to the frightful destruction of gfudgeon
and other small fry, trout and other valuable fish are caught on the night-
lines. Let the fishermen be permitted to lay their weels in any portion of
the river, but make the laying of night-lines a punishable offence. The eels
themselves consume vast quantities of grudgeon. Some few years ago a fisher-
man cut open two eels in my presence, and we found nearly a dozen gudgeons
in them." (W. H. Brougham. The Fields Sept. 20, 1873.)
Teed,
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CHAPTER XXIV.
BURROW.HURDLE.
<< Wide rent, the clouds
Pour a whole flood ; and yet, its flame unqnench*d,
The unconquerable lightning struggles through,
Ragged and fierce."
Thomson.
HE great extent of some of the meadows by the side of the
I <^^^ A river, renders the burrow-hurdle, as it is called, a necessity
for the boy whose duty it is to mind the herds there pastured.
For instance, the field in which our sketch for this subject
was made is more than three hundred acres in area, and is
without any trees except those situate at its extreme limits.
I Were it not for the temporary protection afforded by his
J burrow-hurdle, the poor boy would be absolutely without shelter, " come rain;
hail, or shine" (his own expression), when in the middle of this great
meadow.
It fi-equently happens that certain people have privilege of pasturage in
these cases, similar to common rights, which extend only to particular parts
of the meadow. The boundary lines of these properties are accordingly
marked by large white stones, placed at some distance fi-om each other, and
crossing the field in different directions. It is, of course, the lad's business to
see that the cattle belongfing to the various owners do not stray from their
proper ground. Reeds of the previous year's growth and sedge thickly matted
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138 LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES,
together form the thatch of this simplest of roofs, which is supported by a
single pole placed at such an angle as naturally enables the weight it carries
to keep it in position. It can be moved round, with very little exertion, just
as inconvenience from sun or wind may render desirable.
On one occasion, when we gladly took refuge under a burrow-hurdle from
a passing thunder-storm, and chatted with the rightfiil tenant, we told him
that we thought his life a very pleasant one, and that when painting failed
we intended to take to cow-keeping. He seriously advised us to think twice
before deciding, telling us confidentially that " cows is the most mischiefiul
beastes as is." We were somewhat surprised at such a sweeping assertion,
as we had always regarded the placid herd as of a totally opposite character ;
but we gathered from our young friend that the demon of mischief haimts
them with an inordinate longing for "fresh fields and pastures new." "WTien
making for a gap in a hedge, it seems, they display considerable cunning.
Proceeding slily at a very measured pace, and stopping occasionally to divert
suspicion, till they have gone too far to be overtaken, they suddenly make
a rush for it, as fast as their legs can carry them. The boy assured me
that, on these occasions, they calculate distances wonderfully. Troubles arise
too from the fact of part of the meadow bordering on the river. It often happens
that a bull from the other side will swim the stream and have a battle royal
with the autocrat of the neighbouring herd. As one might guess, it is a task
of no slight difficulty to separate the combatants and to beat back the intruder
to his own territory. Again, owing to the banks of the river being undermined
by the rats and washed away by the current, a cow or sheep feeding close to
the edge sometimes falls into the water. The boy has then to run quickly to
fetch assistance, in order to extricate the animal before it gets drowned. Any
one who attempts to pull out a sheep in this predicament will, if not very
careful, find that he himself will be probably pulled in, owing to the additional
weight of the fleece when frill of water ; not but what the creature seems to have
sense enough to understand that one's intentions are friendly. We asked the
lad what were the names of the cows in his charge, and could not help being
charmed with his string of sweet old-fashioned names, that seemed to have
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BURRO W'HURDLE.
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all the fragrance of the meadow about them, and doubtless have been borne
by each successive herd since the days of Chaucer, and before. We can recall
some of them, as Daisy, Damsel, and Dumpling ; Blossom, Butterfly, and
Beauty; Snowball and Strawberry; Primrose and Pretty-maid. These, "the
sweetest of names, and that carry a perfume in the mention," are common to
very many herds throughout the country at the same time; indeed, we have
come across few others but what happen to be descriptive of some individual
peculiarity of the animal in question.
On the Upper Thames the word " burrow " is used as an adjective in con-
junction with other substantives ; or " simply of itself," as in the expression,
" Come here, it is more burrow under this hedge."
FiH^t-bridge.
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CHAPTER XXV.
MOOR-HEN SHOOTING.
** Where coots in mossy dingles hide,
And moor-cocks shun the day."
Shbnstone.
THE moor-hen, or water-hen,* is the most frequently seen of all
the wild-fowl that are regarded as incidental to the Upper
Thames. Its long legs, which dangle and touch the surface
of the water into repeated circles, the glimpse of white feathers
behind, and the sealing-wax-like spots of red that adorn the
bill, render it easily distinguishable. It not unfrequently leaves
the water to seek its food in the adjacent meadows. When
startled, it runs with great rapidity, and dashes, half running, half flying, into
the water, and either dives or skims over the surface to its rushy covert. We
have known it run up the trunk of an old pollard-willow and shelter itself
among the branches. Its toes are so long and spreading as to enable it to
pass over soft ooze or even the flat leaves of the water-lily : and though they
are neither webbed nor fringed, the bird swims well and dives readily.
The nest of the moor-hen is to be sought for amid the sedges and flags
of the water-side, that furnish the materials of which it is composed, and
screen it from casual observation. Sometimes it is placed upon a low, thickly
foliaged, floating branch, or the stump of a decayed willow.
In the "Museum of Natural History," published by Charles Knight, it is
• Gallinula chloropus^PouU d'eau of the French.
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MOOR^HEN SHOOTING. 143
stated that, with a view to concealment from the rat and snake, the moor-hen
carefully covers up her eggs whenever she leaves the nest during the period
of incubation. Our own observation has not borne out this statement ; out of
twenty or thirty instances in which we have come across a nest with eggs in
it, on only one occasion have we found the eggs at all covered up, and then
it appeared to have resulted from a gust of wind rather than from the prudence
of the bird. It has occurred to us that a moor-hen may have taken the pre-
caution mentioned in some case where the nest was made in an unusually
exposed situation, and that the observer has too readily generalised from the
single instance. More probably, however, the mistake has arisen by confusing
the bird in question with the dab-chick (the little grebe), which really has the
habit of concealing its nest so carefully as to make it extremely difficult to
find.
To any one who may happen to go a cruise on the river above Oxford
about the end of April, the eggs of the moor-hen make a satisfactory addition
to the few luxuries attainable in this far from highly civilised part of the
world. The e^g (reddish white with brown spots) is a marked size larger than
that of the wood-pigeon, and has a flavour not very unlike that of the guinea-
fowl. As to the use of the birds themselves for the table, our own experience
would not lead us to praise them for any delicacy of flavour ; we will, therefore,
echo the advice of Mr. Shandy when he says, "Carefully abstain, that is, as
much as thou canst, from coots, didappers, and water-hens."
Mr. Gould, in his " Birds of Great Britain," has the following remarks as
to the character of this bird that may be fairly introduced here as not generally
known : — " Boldness and pugnacity appear to be part of the moor-hen's nature,
and its quarrelsome disposition renders it an unpleasant neighbour to any
peaceful bird that may live in close contiguity. This leads me to a trait in
its character which will not redound to its credit : still it ought to be known.
The moor-hen comes walking over the lawn, turning its head first to the right,
then to the left, jerking its short, uplifted tail, apparently all peace and
amiability; but should the chick of a fowl or pheasant or a duckling cross
his path, a single stroke of his pointed bill lays the little innocent dead at
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'144 LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES.
his feet, almost without a kick or struggle; and many losses to the keeper
and the housewife have occurred which are not charged to the moor-hen."
Moor-hen shooting used to commence in diflFerent parts of the river either
about the 12 th or the 25th of the month of August. However, by the Act of
Parliament passed last session (35 — 36 Vict. ch. 78) for the protection of certain
wild birds during the breeding season, it is forbidden to kill or offer for sale
the birds specified between the 15 th day of March and the ist day of August.
The schedule to the Act has a wide range, comprising wild birds large and
small, from the swan and the bittern down to the redbreast and the wren.
There is a curious caprice shown in the selection of the seventy-nine species
to be protected; for instance, the dab-chick and the water-rail are omitted
from the list, while the coot and the moor-hen are included.
When out with a gun after the moor-hen, the assistance of a good retriever
or water-spaniel is an absolute necessity. When the dog employed has started
a moor-hen in the direction of the sportsman, the bird on catching sight of
him will, in many cases, suddenly dive. Its course may be tracked by the
air-bubbles that rise to the surface of the water. The bird itself may often be
observed to come up quietly and remain .perfectly still, with half its head out
of the water. On two occasions when we have been out with a fisherman this
has happened, and we have seen powder saved by a well-directed blow from
a pole or long stick, which has either killed the bird or crippled it so that
the dog could easily come up with it. Instead of taking to the wing, the
moor-hen often tries dodgingj about among the rushes, and a good dog will
often capture an unwounded bird.
As the subject of our chapter, though a wild bird, is not " game," it may
be shot by any one in a boat licensed to carry a gun. A large majority of
the moor-hens killed fall, however, to the gun of the fisherman, who will
sometimes go so far as to speak of the parties shooting fix>m boats as poachers.
Persons shooting from the land would be liable to prosecution for trespass,
and we have been given to understand that motioning with the hand to a dog
on the bank is legally construed into trespsiss. When a party of the so-called
poachers are about, the fisherman generally takes care to show himself with
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MOORHEN SHOOTING.
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his dog and gun, with the idea at all events of sharing the sport, if he cannot
prevent it.
The fishermen usually respect each other's shooting districts, their custom
being to consider the renting of the fishing, osier-beds, &c., as the natural
limit to each man's preserves.
The water- rail (sketched on page 1 1 1 ) resembles in many points the moor-r
hen, between which bird and the corn-crake it seems to be the connecting
link. As far as we know, the water-rail is only a winter visitant to the Upper
Thames, and is by no means commonly met with.
Moor- hens.
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CHAPTER XXVL
DIBBING FOR CHUB.
" Of recreation there is none
So free as fishing is alone."
IzAAK Walton.
WASHINGTON IRVING, in his « Sketch-book," notices how
favourite a pastime angling is with us as a people, and it
seems to have struck him as curiously consistent with the
character of the landscape. The passage we refer to is as
follows: — "As the English are methodical, even in their re-
creations, and are the most scientific of sportsmen, it has
been reduced among them to perfect rule and system. Indeed,
it is an amusement peculiarly adapted to the mild and highly cultivated scenery
of England, where every roughness has been softened away from the landscape.
It is delightful to saunter along those limpid streams which wander, like veins of
silver, through the bosom of this beautiful country ; leading one through a diver-
sity of small home-scenery ; sometimes winding through ornamented grounds ;
sometimes brimming along through rich pasturage, where the fresh green is
mingled with sweet-smelling flowers ; sometimes venturing in sight of villages
and hamlets, and then running capriciously away into shady retirements."
Perhaps the most deserving of the terms, mild and methodical, is the mode
usually practised of angling for chub from the bank, commonly spoken of as
" dibbing." The process is graphically described by Isaac Walton, who some-
times calls the fish a cheven or chavender, and uses the word " daping " (now
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DI BEING FOR CHUB. 149
obsolete) for " dibbing/' * Piscator says to his pupil, ^* Go to the same hole
in which I caught my chub, where, in most hot days, you will find a dozen
' or twenty cheveyis floating near the top of the water. Get two or three grass-
hoppers as you go over the meadow, and get secretly behind the tree, and
stand as free from motion as is possible. Then put a grasshopper on your
hook, and let your hook hang a quarter of a yard short of the water, to which
end you must rest your rod on some bough of the tree. But it is likely the
chubs will sink down towards the bottom of the water at the first shadow of
your rod (for chub is the fearfulest of fishes), and will do so if but a bird
flies over him and makes the least shadow on the water. But they will pre-
sently rise up to the top again, and lie there soaring till some shadow affrights
them again. I say, when they lie upon the top of the water, look out the best
chub (which you, settling yourself in a fit place, may very easily see), and
move your rod as softly as a snail moves to that chub you intend to catch ;
let your bait fall gently upon the water three or four inches before him, and
he will infallibly take the bait. And you will be as sure to catch him; for
he is one of the leather-mouthed fishes, of which a hook does scarce ever lose
its hold ; and therefore give him play enough before you offer to take him
out of the water. Go your way presently ; take my rod, and do as I bid you ;
and I will sit down and mend my tackling till you return back."
Should not a grasshopper, which is the most deadly of all baits for the
chub, be procurable, a cockchafer or humble-bee will do very well ; it is said
that a cherry or a piece of cheese has been successfully employed in this
manner, but we have never tried them. The expression ** leather-mouthed "
fish is applied to such as have their teeth in the throat, as the barbel, the
gudgeon, and the carp ; the skin of the mouth of these fish is much more
tough than of others, as the trout or perch, from which the hook will frequently
break away before the fish can be brought to land.
The chub are hardly to be taken in the manner described till after Mid-
summer, as they prefer staying in the deep water till the weather becomes
very warm. A hot sun tempts them out on to the shallows, where they like
♦ The latter word occurs in the continuation of the "Complete Angler," by Mr. Charles Cotton.
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150 LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES.
to swim about slowly near the surface. They often make a regular round,
visiting the same spots one after another, but never going far away from their
hole, to which they retire on the slightest alarm, and immediately sink out of
sight." As a rule they avoid the strength of the current, but like to lie near
enough to it to be able to seize upon what insects may be carried down by
the stream. A slight backwater, such as may be caused by the stump of a
decayed willow, is a favourite resort with them. The very largest chub, how-
ever, are sometimes taken when the angler is spinning for trout in a mill-race
or weir-stream.
When these fish happen to swim near a bank unsheltered by trees or bushes,
it is a capital plan for the angler to lie at full length on the grass and project
as little of the rod as possible. Dibbing for chub is very successful between
five and eight o'clock in the morning in fine autumn weather ; there being then
little to disturb " the fearfulest of fishes."
Now that the trout has become so scarce in the Thames, the chub takes
the first place in the fly-fisher's regard. A sorry substitute certainly, but
affording good sport nevertheless. Among other restsons, naturalists attribute
the decline of the trout to the great increase of the chub and the pike, which
are believed to destroy the young fry to an enormous extent.
Fly-fishing proper, that is with the artificial fly, is little practised up the
river by the country-people. It is more frequently visitors from the towns
that "whip" under the willows from a boat in the middle of the stream,
while the countryman fishes from the bank. The favourite artificial flies for
chub are the red and black palmer, the alder, and the coachman. The two
former are supposed to represent the common hairy caterpillar,* and consist
simply of a cock's hackle twisted round the shank of the hook ; the two latter
have a thickish body composed of peacock-herl, the alder with a dark wing
and the coachman with a white one. A very good caterpillar is made by
omitting the wing of these, and only retaining the peacock-herl body, which
is somewhat lengthened. An artificial bee or wasp is also good towards the
end of the season.
• The larva of the tiger-moth.
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DI BEING FOR CHUB. 151
In fly-fishing £pr chub, the chief points are to fish fi-om a boat or punt,
to use as long a line as you can conveniently manage, and to let your fly
drop close to the bank (or bough) the first throw at each spot you try. The
boat must be handled with g^eat care, so as to make as little disturbance as
possible, and to keep the angler as far from the bank as the length of his
line will permit. When the weather is chilly, it is a good plan to put a gentle
or small piece of washleather on to the fly-hook, and to let the line sink as
much as you can in drawing it through the water.
Isaac Walton gives elaborate instructions as to the cooking of this fish so
as to render it palatable : his principal directions are to cook it, if possible,
immediately on its being taken out of the water; not to wash the blood out
of the flesh more than can be helped ; and to roast it, so as to dry the moisture
out of it. The fact is, that the flesh is watery and poor, and the bones are
many and large ; and we cannot help fancying Piscator is making the most
of his subject, after the fashion of a special pleader on a given topic. He
puts into the mouth of his scholar this remark, after having partaken of a
properly cooked specimen: "Trust me, 'tis as good meat as I ever tasted."
However, on another being caught, it is given to the milkmaid; and on a
future occasion, when he unintentionally catches one, he exclaims against him
for **a logger-headed chub;" adding, and "this is not much amiss, for this
will pleasure some poor body." On our offering the contents of our basket to
some poor body in a village not far from London, she declined, with thanks,
adding that she did not keep a cat. As a change of diet, some value is
apparently attached to them, for we have ourselves more than once been asked
for some we had caught, on behalf of an invalid wife or daughter of the person
asking. The fishermen say they find a ready market for the chub, which are
classed along with roach and dace as "coarse" fish, and sell uniformly at
twopence a pound. A chub of four pounds is reckoned a very good sized
fish; they sometimes indeed, but not often, exceed this weight by a pound
or so.
Should the angler have a blank day (a rare event, to judge from the con-
versation one overhears of the brethren of the craft, he has the consolation of
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an old writer,* that " atte the leest, he hath his holsom walk, and mery at ease,
a sweet ayre of the swete savoure of the mede floures that maky th him hungry ;
he hereth the melodious armony of fowles ; he seeth the yonge swannes, heerons,
duckes, cotes, and many other fowles, wyth their brodes ; whyche me seemyth
better than alle the noyse of houndys, the blastes of homys, and the scrye of
foulis, that hunters and fawkeners and foulers can make. And if the angler
take fysche, surely thenne is there noo man merrier then he is in his spyrte."
• Dame Julyans Bcmers, prioress of the nunnery of Sopwell, near St. Albans.
Coots.
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CHAPTER XXVI L
SWAN'S NEST.
" Liltle Ellie in her smile
Chooses — I will have a lover,
Riding on a steed of steeds ;
He shall love me without guile,
And to him I will discover
The swan's nest among the reeds."
E. B. BfeowNiNG.
EEDS, flags, and rushes are the materials of which the swan's
nest is mostly composed. Sticks are often added, or any-
other litter that may happen to be available; the nest is so
loosely constructed that it presents a rather untidy appear-
ance. From the fact of the birds naturally preferring the most
secluded spots by the water, we more often find a swan's-nest
on an eyot than on either bank of the river: the osier-beds
are, perhaps, the localities most often selected by them. The eggs are six or
eight in number, and are hatched in five or six weeks. The young birds are
termed cygnets, and are covered with a greyish brown plumage, which is not
entirely lost till the beginning of the third year. Though the swan is in
general very gentle and inoffensive, the male bird will defend the nest with great
courage, and advance to the onset with ruffled pinions and every demonstration
of anger; nor is it, from its muscular powers, an antagonist to be despised.
While the cygnets are very young, one or two of them will sometimes climb
up on to their mother's back, who never sails along more proudly than when
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156 LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES.
her dusky brood is thus cradled between her snowy wings. Wordsworth, in
his " Evening Walk,'* thus charmingly describes a family of these birds : —
"On as he floats, the silver*d waters glow.
Proud of the varying arch and moveless form of snow,
While tender cares and mild domestic loves
With furtive watch pursue her as she moves.
The female with a meeker charm succeeds
And her brown little ones around her leads,
Nibbling the water-lilies as they pass,
Or playing wanton with the floating grass.
She, in a mother*s care, her beauty's pride
Forgets, unwearied watching every side:
She calls them near, and with aflection sweet
Alternately relieves their weary feet.
Ahemately they mount her back, and rest.
Close by her mantling wings' embraces pressed.*'
We regret that we have hitherto missed the opportunity of sketching what
would have made a subject for a pretty picture.
Swans do not breed until they are several years old, and they mate strictly
in pairs : the technical terms for the male and female are cob and pen. The
cob, or male, has a thicker neck and a larger " berry " at the base of the bill
than the pen, or female; he also swims more buoyantly, from having more
volume of lungs. Maturity in both cob and pen is shown by the size of the
" berry " and the depth of the orange colour of the bill.
On the Thames the nests are sedulously watched by the fisherman, who
receives half-a-crown for each young bird that is hatched. He also takes
care of the birds during inclement winters, receiving two shillings a week
for the time during which he has given them food and shelter. Taking eggs
from the nests of swans, and of certain other birds, was an offence severely
dealt with in old times. We find, in an Act * of Henry VH., that " no manner
of person, of what condition or degree he bee, take or cause to be taken,
be it upon his owne ground or any other mans, the egges of any fawcon,
goshawk, laners, or swans, out of the nest, upon paine of imprisonment of a
yere and a day, and fine at the kings wil, the one halfe thereof to the king,
• RasUll's " Statutes," p. 233.
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SWAN'S NEST. 157
and the other halfe unto the owner of the ground where the egges were so
taken." The ownership of these swans is referred to in our next chapter.
The swan feeds on aquatic weeds, the spawn of fish, and coarse grass
growing by the sides of the water : it is furnished with a gizzard of extra-
ordinary muscular power, which enables it to grind the weeds, however fibrous,
to a pulp. Each family of swans on the river has its own district ; and if the
limits of that district are encroached upon by other swans, a pursuit imme-
diately takes place, and the intruders are driven away*
All writers on the subject agree that the swan is very long lived, some
saying that it attains thirty years, while others assert that it sometimes survives
a century.
*'Man comes and tills the earth and lies beneath,
And after many a summer dies the swan."
The particular species that is the subject of the present article is often
semi-domesticated on lakes and ornamental waters, and is known as the tame
or mute swan — Cygnus olor of the ornithologists. It is said not to have been
originally a native of our islands, but is found in the eastern portions of
Europe and the adjacent parts of Asia, where inland seas, vast lakes, and
extensive morasses afford it a congenial home. In Siberia and some parts
of Russia it is common, and abounds on the shores of the Caspian Sea. It is
doubtful when this graceful bird was introduced into this country.
The unrivalled beauty of the swan has naturally made it a favourite with
the poets. We have Wordsworth's oft- quoted but ever-delightful couplet —
"The swan on still Saint Mary*s lake
Floats double, swan and shadow ! "
And Milton's stately lines : —
**The swan, with arched neck
Between her white wings mantling, proudly rows
Her state with oary feet."
Keats, who seems to have had quite a painter's appreciation of beauty, both
of form and colour, writes as follows : —
*'Oft have you seen a swan superbly frowning,
And with proud breast his own white shadow crowning."
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LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES.
And again —
** There saw the swan, his neck of arched snow,
And oar'd himself along with majesty :
Sparkled his jetty eyes ; his feet did show
Beneath the waves like Afric's ebony,'*
The following characteristic passage is from the pen of that prose-poet, John
Ruskin : ^* If the reader would obtain perfect ideas respecting loveliness of
luminous surface, let him closely observe a swan with its wings expanded in
full light five minutes before sunset."
Wild swans are sometimes, though very rarely, shot on the Thames ; they
may be often observed flying in a wedge-like form, high in air, but they very
rarely settle. Those specimens that are occasionally seen in Leadenhall Market
come, for the most part, from the east coast, and are of the kind known as
the Hooper, or Whistling Swan. This species, Cygnus ferusy is neither so large
nor so graceful as the tame swan.
Swans.
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CHAPTER XXVIIl.
SWAN-HOPPING.
" A fat swan lov'd he best of any rost.'*
Chaucer's Prologue.
THE following remarks, relative to the right of keeping swans,
are taken from the " Penny Cyclopaedia :" —
" In England the swan is said to be a bird royal, in which
no subject can have property, when at large in a public river
or creek, except by grant from the Crown. In creating this
privilege the Crown grants a swan-mark [cygninotd) for a game
of swans, called in law Latin dcdudus (a pastime, un diduit)
cygnoruniy sometimes vclatus cygnorum (7 Coke's Rep. 17). In the reign of Queen
Elizabeth upwards of nine hundred corporations and individuals had their dis-
tinct swan-marks. Mr. Yarrell's valuable work on British birds contains a
mass of curious information on this subject, together with delineations of
sixteen different swan-marks.
"The privilege of having a swan-mark, or game of swans, is a freehold
of inheritance, and may be granted over. But by 22 Edw. IV., c. 6, no person
other than the king's sons, shall have a swan-mark, or game of swans, unless
he has freehold lands or tenements of the clear yearly value of five marks
f ^3 6^. 8^.), on pain of forfeiture of the swans ; one moiety to the king, and
the other to any qualified person who makes the seizure.
**The city of Oxford has a game of swans by prescription, though none
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162 LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES,
are now kept. In the sixteenth century (when a state dinner was not complete
unless a swan was included in the bill of fare) this game of swans was rented
upon an engagement to deliver yearly four fat swans, and to leave six old
swans at the end of the term. By the corporation books it also appears that
in 1557 barley was provided for the young birds at fourteen pence a bushel,
and that tithes were then paid of swans.
" Two of the London Companies have games of swans, the Dyers' and the
Vintners' Company, and are, with the Crown, the principal owners of swans
in the Thames. In August, 1841, the Queen had 232, the Dyers 105, and the
Vintners 100 swans in the river. Formerly the Vintners alone had 500. The
swan-mark of the Dyers' Company is a notch, called a " nick," on one side
of the beak. The swans of the Vintners' Company, being notched on each side
of the beak, are jocularly called " swans with two necks," a term which has
long been used as a sign by one of the large inns in London.
"On the first Monday in August in every year, the swan-marker of the
Crown and the two companies of the city of London go up the river for the
purpose of inspecting and taking an account of the swans belonging to their
respective employers, and marking the young birds. In ancient documents
this annual expedition is called swan-upping, and the persons employed are
denominated swan-uppers. These designations have been popularly corrupted
into swan-hopping and swan-hoppers."
Without prescription all white swans in an open river, unmarked, belong
to the Crown by prerogative. Consequently should any brood, belonging to
either of the City companies, be overlooked by the markers one year, it becomes
thereafter royal property. This probably accounts for the fact of the number
of birds belonging to the Queen exceeding that of the Dyers and Vintners
put together.
A curious fine for stealing swans appears in Coke's ** Reports," Part VII. ;
it is as follows: —
**He who stealeth a swan in an open and common River, lawfully marked,
the same swan shall be hung in a house by the beak, and he who stole it
shall, in recompense thereof, give to the owner so much wheat as may cover
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SWAN-HOPPING. 163
all the swan by putting and turning the wheat upon the head of the swan,
until the head of the swan be covered with wheat."
For its value as an article of food the swan is with us now almost entirely
disregarded. Two or three are still fattened every Christmas time for Windsor
Castle, where, in accordance with old usage, they make their regular appearance
on the royal table. On only one occasion have we ourselves ever had the oppor-
tunity of testing the taste of our ancestors in the matter, and we are inclined
to class the royal bird along with the royal fish, the sturgeon, as really inferior
in flavour to many a plebeian dish. In colour the flesh is extremely dark,
and, if we may speak from our solitary experience, we should describe it as
somewhat dry, and decidedly coarse in fibre : the bird in question was a
young one, which had been carefully fattened, and kept till tender after being
killed.
The swan-hopping is taken advantage of by many members of the two
companies, who, with a party of their friends, make it the occasion of a
pleasant three days' excursion up the river. They either accompany or precede
the actual markers of the swans, stopping for the night at Staines, Taplow,
and Henley. At the present date they travel in a house-boat, towed by horses ;
formerly the old City barges (now moored at Oxford) were used, with their
double banks of rowers. Daniel's "Rural Sports," published in 1801, speaks
of the swans being abundant "quite up to the source of the River." During
our time Henley has been the limit beyond which we have never seen any
of these birds.
The fact that the swans feed freely on the spawn of fish, has rendered
them objects of dislike to many anglers. Towards the close of last year, the
Great Marlow Angling Association memorialised the Lord Chamberlain for a
" redistribution " of her Majesty's swans on the river, giving as a special
reason the attempt now being made to re-stock the river with trout. From
Lord Sydney's reply, we gather that in the district of seven miles, alleged
to be overcrowded, there were counted forty-nine swans. Thirty of these
probably belonged to the Queen, the remainder being the property of the
City companies. His lordship did not consider this too large a number for
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LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES.
the length of water, and declined to give orders for any reduction in their
numbers.
Our sketch shows the manner of catching and collecting the birds, when
the creatures' legs are tied together over their backs. The way in which the
swans are handled seems, to a looker-on, somewhat barbarous. The " nicking "
of the beaks is done with a pen-knife, which causes the blood to flow slightly,
and the cygnets have their immature wings clipped, and the blood staunched
with tar. Removing the last joint of the wing is termed " pinioning."
A large part of this and the preceding chapter is taken from Charles Knight's
"Museum of Animated Nature," — a work from which we have confidence in
quoting, Mr. Gould having told us that it is generally correct as regards the
natural history of our birds.
Swans AsUep,
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CHAPTER XXIX.
SHOOTING AN OTTER.
<* Lord of the stream, and all
The finny shoals his own : — and on that bank
Behold the glittering spoils! half-eaten fish,
Scales, fins, and bones."
SOMERVILLE.
'ITHOUT at all disputing the fact that a good many fish fall
victims to the voracity of each otter which is suffered to survive,
we cannot help putting in a mild plea on behalf of the species.
There are now so very few of the tribe left near the river,
their enemies have had such constant success, that from the
victors we would now petition for a cessation of hostilities.
The difference which the few remaining otters make to the
total quantity of fish in the river must be but a minute fraction, surely not
enough to justify the complete extermination of **so interesting a native."
Only once have we had the luck to view one of these graceful creatures in the
Thames ; and we do not think that more than two or three are ever seen in
one year. The fact of the presence of an otter being detected anywhere
seems to call for immediate notice in the Fields usually accompanied with talk
of rewards for its destruction. The animal is generally alluded to in more
vituperative language than would have been thought to exist in the vocabulary
of the " gentle " angler ; and should the death of the poor beast be compassed.
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168 LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES.
the glory supposed to attach to the exploit is ludicrously out of proportion
to the occasion. In our district the skin of an otter is said to be worth fifteen
shillings or a pound.
The following particulars regarding the otter are to be found in the
"Museum of Animated Nature:" —
"This well-known species is by no means confined to the lakes and rivers
of Europe, but abounds also on many parts of the coast, being common on the
shores of Scotland and Ireland. It is during the night that the otter carries
on its work of slaughter ; sly and recluse, it lurks by day in its deep burrow,
the mouth of which is concealed among masses of stone, the luxuriant herbage
of some steep bank which overhangs the water, or beneath the twisted roots
of an overshadowing tree.
"The movements of the otter are remarkably graceful, and it swims at
every depth at great velocity ; every now and then it comes for a moment to
the surface to breathe, previously expelling the air pent up in its lungs, which,
rising in bubbles, marks its sub-aquatic course. Having taken breath afresh,
it dives noiselessly, like a shot, and gives chase to its prey, which it follows
through every turn and maze, till at length the exhausted victim can no longer
evade the jaws of its rapacious foe. Whoever has witnessed the feeding of
those which from time to time have been kept in the gardens of the Zoological
Society, cannot fail to have remarked the fine sweep of the body as the animal
plunges into the water, its undulating movements while exploring its prey,
the swiftness and pertinacity of the pursuit, and then the easy turn to the
surface with the captured booty. This is generally devoured before the chase
of another fish is commenced ; sometimes, however, instead of treating them
thus separately, the otter contrives to bring up several at a time, managing
not only to seize them, but to carry them hanging fi-om its mouth. In eating
them it commences with the head, which it crushes in an instant between its
teeth. Eight or ten moderate-sized fish serve for a single meal; but it is
well known that in a state of nature the otter slaughters a much larger
number of fish than it devours ; hence some idea may be formed of the havoc
occasioned by a pair of otters in support of themselves and their young. Indeed
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SHOOTING AN OTTER. 169
the animal seldom devours more of a fish than the head and upper portion of
the body. When fish is scarce, the otter will feed on frogs and water-rats.
It has even been known to resort far inland, to the neighbourhood of the
farm-yard, and attack lambs, sucking-pigs, and poultry, thus assuming for a
time the habits of its more terrestrial congeners. In winter, when the rivulets
and ponds are firozen, the otter wanders in search of such places in the river
as are by their depth secured against the effects of the fi"ost, or travels down
the smaller streams to the large river, and there continues its work of destruction.
"Otter hunting was among the favourite field-sports of our ancestors, and
is still eagerly carried on in the islands of Scotland, • where the difficulties of
the chase, from the rocky, broken nature of the shore, add to the excitement.
"The common European otter measures about two feet two inches in the
length of the head and body, the tail being one foot four inches. Its usual
weight is firom twenty to twenty-four pounds, but instances have been known
in which it has attained the weight of forty pounds. Those that frequent the
sea-coast are generally larger and darker coloured than the otters of inland
rivers or sheets of waters. The female produces from three to five young, and
is devoted to them, nursing them with the greatest assiduity.
"The otter is intelligent, and when taken young easily tamed, and may be
taught to assist the fisherman, by driving shoals to the nets, or by catching
salmon. Daniel, Bewick, Shaw, and Goldsmith record instances in which the
otter has been domesticated, as do also Mr. Bell and Mr. Macgillivray. The
late Bishop Heber noticed in India, on one occasion, a number of otters
tethered by long strings to bamboo stakes at the water's edge, and was informed
that it was customary to keep them tame, in consequence of their utility in
driving the shoals of fish into the nets, as well as bringing out the larger fish
with their teeth."
Some curious particulars respecting the otter are to be found in the " Com-
plete Sportsman, or Country Gentleman's Recreation," by Thomas Fairfax,
Esq. t The following sentence is a specimen of that gentleman's style : " He
♦ At Carlisle, and at three or four other places in England, packs of otter-hounds are still kept up.
t Not dated.
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LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES.
is a very subtil and crafty beast, and endowed with a wonderful sagacity and
sense of smelling, insomuch that he can directly wind the fishes in the water
a mile or two distance from him."
Mr. Jesse, in his "Gleanings from Natural History," narrates an incident
in evidence of the devoted affection that the otter bears to its young. In the
case of some young otters being taken alive and put into a sack on board
a boat, the old otters persistently followed the captors ten miles up the river
(the Indus); and whenever their progeny uttered a wailing noise, they not
only approached the boat, but even attempted to get into it, wth utter dis-
regard of the danger to themselves.
Otter,
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CHAPTER XXX.
PUTTING DOWN GRIG-WEELS.
<' As one would look
Athwart the sallows of a river nook
To catch a glance at silver-throated eels/'
Keats.
(RIG-WEELS ♦ are wicker baskets sunk in the river for the
purpose of catching eels. They contain a chamber into which
there is an entrance narrowing inwards nearly to a point,
and formed at the end of converging willow rods. These
rods diverge easily upon pressure, and so admit the long,
thin body of the eel into the chamber, when they close again
and prevent his return. The old-fashioned wire mouse-trap
is precisely similar as regards the principle of construction, so that allusion
to it will render further description unnecessary. These traps are intended
only to be used for the catching of eels, but other fish may be taken in them.
Stones attached near each end of the weel are used for the purpose of sinking
them.
Grig-weels are commonly laid with the openings down the stream, as it
is in their progress up the river that the smaller eels are generally taken.
About eighteen of these baskets comprise the set that the fisherman employs
* ** Grig or ground- weeb " are the terms used in the Bye-laws of the Thames Conservancy Acts. Any
small eel is called a grig on the Thames; a Saxon origin is ascribed to the word "weel" or "weely," by
Dr. Johnson, who defines it as " a twiggen snare or trap for fish (perhaps from willow). — Carew.'\
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174 LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES.
at one time. He usually lays them about sunset, and collects them again
early in the morning. He tries all the likely-looking spots, varying the locality
very much on different nights, according to his fancy. It is a rather severe
tax upon the memory to recollect every place at which he has lowered a weel ;
and sometimes he will break a small willow bough opposite the spot, or tie
a knot in a rush, or use some other simple means to the same end. The weels
are raised from the bed of the river by means of a hitcher or boat-hook, which
is groped about till it catches between the twigs of which the basket is com-
posed. There is a wooden stopper at the upper or small end of the weel,
which is taken out, that the fish may be shaken into the well of the punt.
For bait a few gudgeon are used, or the refuse of larger fish, enclosed in
the inner chamber ; but when the fish are " moving," they are frequently taken
without the trap being baited at all.
This "moving" of fish is altogether a very uncertain affair, and seems to
be beyond man's calculation. Little is known except the facts that when
there is much electricity in the air, eels are exceedingly active ; and that, as
with other fish, very light nights are not favourable to their capture. That
most of the weels will contain fish, or that none will, and that on the same
night all the fisherinen will be successful or none, is the case ; but the reasons
for this are purely conjectural.
Our next chapter will be devoted to the large eel-bucks or stages, when
we shall add what further particulars we have been able to gather with refer-
ence to the eels in the Thames.
The time of the day we have endeavoured to suggest in our illustration
is about half an hour after sunset, as the fisherman nears the end of his task.
Others, besides ourselves, will doubtless have noticed the absolute stillness
that so often reigns at that hour, however boisterous the day may have been.
Every object is perfectly reflected from the surface of the water; and, owing
to the position in which one object often is as regards others, it not unfre-
quently happens that the inverted shadow is seen more distinctly than the
substance to which it owes its existence. We have often watched this effect,
and after a blustering day in September it is peculiarly fascinating, as the
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PUTTING DOWN GRIG-WEELS.
ns
light fades and the gusts of wind die away, to note the gradual change into
such a quiet as seems almost unreal. In "My Study Windows" Professor
Lowell speaks of ** that delicious sense of disenthralment from the actual which
the deepening twilight brings with it, giving, as it does, a sort of obscure
novelty to things familiar."
"The eel's foe, the heroiin," as Chaucer calls it, is the subject of our
vignette. Lord Bacon says that this bird, "when she soareth high, so as
sometimes she is seen to pass over a cloud, sheweth winds."
HtTOfl,
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CHAPTER XXXI.
EEL-BUCKS.
«» They are nought but eeles, that never will appeare
Till that tempestuous winds or thunder teare
Their slimy beds."
Makston*s Satires (1764).
EL-BUCKS are sometimes called pots, the word used for the
wicker-baskets for catching lobsters. The retaining of the
word " buck," applied to a large basket, is one of the many
instances in which an old English word is preserved in out-
of-the-way places. To all of our readers it will, no doubt,
suggest the famous scene in The Merry Wives of WrndsoTy
where Sir John endures the ignominy of stewing with the
unwashed linen in the buck*-basket, and being thrown out, ** hissing hot,"
into the Thames, and "cooled, glowing hot, in that surge, like a horse-
shoe."
These traps for eels are of the same materials, and are very similar in
construction to the grig-weels described in the preceding chapter; the chief
difference is their size (they measure about nine feet six inches or ten feet),
and the addition of a small chamber at the side, near the lower end. Into this
chamber the eels always retire, to avoid the rush of water, which, driving them
against the twigs, is liable to injure them. Instead of a wooden stopper, a wicker
one is used, held by a pin that goes right through the narrow rim of the basket.
* *' Buck, the liquor in which clothes are washed." — AsfCs Dictionary,
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EEL-BUCKS. 179
A stage of eel-bucks usually consists of six or seven, and is commonly placed
between an island and the river-bank, of course on that side of the island that is
not used for navigation. The spot selected for erecting these traps is where
the current is strong, and they may be regarded as "rough filters, which
permit the water to run through but retain the fish." This definition, which
is the most easily intelligible of any I have met with, occurs in Mr. Smee's
very useful book, " My Garden." Separate traps on the same principle are
frequently placed where the surplus water of a mill runs off, or in any similar
position.
The stages are only in use on the Thames for a few months in the year,
from about October to December. It is to intercept the larger eels in their
migration to the mouth of the river that they are employed. The use of the
small grig-weels is the reverse of this — the open or large end is placed down
the stream, in order to catch the eels in their passage upwards from the mouth
of the river. It is supposed that they breed in the brackish water, though
very little is known on the subject. The fact that eels abound and thrive in
many ponds which have no outlet to any running stream, shows that these
migrations are not indispensable conditions of their existence.
The passage of the small fiy up the river is called the eel-fare, and is thus
described by Mr. Jesse, in his second series of " Gleanings in Natural His-
tory :" — " These young eels are about two inches in length, and they make
their approach in one regular and undeviating column of about five inches
in breadth, and as thick together as it is possible for them to be. As the
procession generally lasts two or three days, and as they appear to move at
the rate of nearly two miles and a half an hour, some idea may be formed of
their enormous number. The line of march is almost universally confined to
one bank of the river, and not on both sides at the same time; but, from
some instinctive or capricious impulse, they will cross the river and change
the side without any apparent reason for doing so. When the column arrives
at the entrance of a tributary stream which empties itself into the river, a
certain portion of the column will continue to progress up the tributary stream,
and the main phalanx either cross the river to the opposite bank, or will.
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i8o LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES.
after a stiff struggle to oppose the force of the tributary branch in its emptying
process, cross the mouth of this estuary, and regain its original line of march
on the same side of the river."
The manner of raising or lowering these bucks is the same as that of the
paddles in the weir with fixed bridge; and a comparison of the two illus-
trations will perhaps render them both more intelligible. We have seen one
other instance of the same use of an axle worked with movable levers, and
that is the raising of the " trunks " in which the fisherman keeps the fish he
has caught, and may have in stock. When the river is very full, and a powerful
stream running, it takes some trouble to lower these baskets. In a usual
way, their own weight is sufficient to do it, but at times it taxes to the uttermost
the strength of a couple of men pressing them down with poles. A movable
post or "rimer" helps to form the groove in which they slide, and is held
by a pin called a " jack." These rimers fit into staples at the lower end ;
sometimes they are reversible, and reference to the illustration will show that
the two nearest to the fisherman are so. This construction is to allow removal
of the basket for repairs, &c. Although actually only in use for a few months
of the year, the trouble attending their removal is so great that they are usually
left in their places exposed to the weather, but not immersed in the river.
The constant rush of water about these stages necessitates originally a very
solid construction. This is further strengthened by nailing pieces of wood
about it at odd places, thus enhancing the picturesque appearance of these
objects, which have always been favourites with the sketchers on our river.
The colours of the osier-rods, of which the baskets are made, vary from olive
green to brownish purple, and naturally look well among the bright greens
that surround them. We are sorry to say that in some places galvanised iron
is being employed as a substitute for the picturesque osier-rods in eel-baskets.
It seems that ours is rightly named the iron age — iron has entered into the
soul of it.
So little is actually known as to the natural history of the eel, that there
has in consequence been a great deal of controversy on the subject. In 1871
there was an interesting case brought before the Windsor magistrates, when
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EEL-BUCKS. i8i
a fisherman endeavoured to maintain the right of catching eels all the year
round, in defiance of the fence season, laid down by the Thames conservators^
The fisherman was convicted, but the justices found as fact that thare was no
sufficient evidence how eels are propagated, nor when they spawn, nor whether
they are at any time unfit for food. An appeal was made to the Court of
Common Pleas,* and the magistrates' decision confirmed. However, the subject
seems since to have received much attention, and in April of this year the
Thames Conservancy issued an official notice in reference to the byeJaws
regarding the taking of eels. After stating the intention to assimilate the
close season of the upper water with the lower district, it goes on to say,
"Eels may be taken in the fence months, as well as all other times of the
year ; but no person shall, between the first day of March and thirty-first of
May inclusive, take, or attempt to take, eels otherwise than in eel-weels, bucks,
or baskets; and any fish that may be caught in such eel-weels, bucks, or
baskets, other than eels, shall forthwith be returned uninjured, as far as can
be, to the river by the person catching the same."
The bucks are usually lowered in the afternoon; and it is the prevailing
opinion among the fishermen that the eels are for the most part taken between
nine o'clock and midnight. In their opinion the eflfect of thunder upon eels
is rather occasioned by the sudden thickening of the water than any occult
atmospheric influence; and they allege in support of their view, that while
the eels will move during a thunderstorm in the smaller streams, they do not
move in the river itself till the day afterwards, when the river has in turn
become muddy. We are afraid that this reason is far too simple and prosaic
to find favour, though we should much like to hear what can be brought
forward to refiite it. The belief that thunder ** awakes the beds of eels" is
countenanced by Shakspere; any facts brought together on the subject would
be extremely interesting.
Half a hundredweight of eels in a single night is reckoned a good take
for the whole set of six or seven baskets. They had for a long time been
sold at an average price of a shilling the pound, but have risen in price lately,
♦ Woodhouse v. Etheridge. See Law Times ^ July 8th, 1871.
R
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LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES.
owing, no doubt, to the depreciation of money, so painfully observable by
persons dependent on fixed incomes.
As eels are the principal means of support of the professional fishermen,
many methods have been devised to secure them. We may mention spearing
for them with a trident, bobbing for them with bunches of large worms threaded
on red worsted, and fishing with night-lines. Spearing for eels is not in use
on this part of the river, at least as far as we are aware; bobbing also is
only carried on in the lower waters, but night-lines baited with worms are
frequently met with.
EeU,
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CHAPTER XXXII.
FLIGHT-SHOOTING.
" Beneath this hedge
Screen we ourselves and dogs — close o*er our head
The birds will skim; they come, compact and close,
When instant *mid their ranks the whistling shot
Spreads dire destruction."
Fowling, BY J. Vincent.
iHE term ** flight-shooting " ♦ signifies shooting wild-fowl at
evening twilight, as they fly overland from the sea, or from
rivers or lakes which they use by day, to marshes, moors, or
fens, where they feed by night; and, again, the sport may
be resumed at morning twilight, as the birds return from their
feeding haunts to their places of daily resort.
The flight-shooter waits in ambush in the track of the
flight usually taken by the wild-fowl as they fly to and fro morning and
night, or he may conceal himself in a boat or up a creek — indeed, anywhere
in their track. From some such place of concealment the flight-shooter keeps
a sharp look-out about the space of an hour and a half, or so long as twilight
lasts. Wild-fowl move very rapidly through the air at flight-time, but generally
low enough to be brought down by a dexterous sportsman, even with a short
gun. The tyro will be sorely puzzled at first, as trip after trip passes over
♦ The practical part of our remarks under this heading is taken almost literally from the «* Wild Fowler," by
H. C. Folkard, 1859, which is by far the best work on the subject we have met with.
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1 86 LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES.
his head in rapid succession. No shooting is more difficult than this, and
none requires a keener eye or greater dexterity. The sportsman should
remember to allow the birds to pass over his head before firing, and then
send his shot after them, under their feathers ; and he must fire well forward,
at least a foot in front of them, so as to make allowance for the rapidity of
their flight.
There is now a great deal of uncertainty attending this sport in any but
severe winters ; but before the destruction of the breeding-haimts of wild-fowl
by the drainage of moors and fens, it was a very popular diversion, and a
steady source of food-supply in many districts.
Whenever the flight-shooter is fortunate enough to meet with a shot at
a good number of birds, he may bring down his four or five at a charge with
a small gun, if he fire at the critical moment, which is (and it cannot be too
much insisted on) the instant after they have passed over his head.
The most propitious night that can be chosen for this sport is at the first
and last quarters of the moon, or at the half-moon, and during a strong wind,
as the birds then fly very low. A cloudy sky, or rather a sky which presents
a mixture of dark and white clouds, with only a little moonlight, is also highly
favourable; neither bright moonlight nor clear starlight evenings are adapted
for flight-shooting. When the course of the birds is westward, and a lurid
sky lights up the scene, the fowler has an excellent chance of seeing his birds
clearly when he fires. They generally fly in small trips to their feeding-haunts
at night, but return in the morning in larger flights. They fly very low as
they proceed over water and mud, but rise higher in the air on reaching
dry land.
In windy weather they keep more together, and go in larger flights ; but
very swiftly, if their course be down wind. The sportsman must then be
doubly quick in taking his shots, or the birds will have passed by him before
he can bring the gun to his shoulder. If, on the other hand, the course of
the birds be against a strong wind, their flight will be so steady that the
sportsman will have abundant time to aim deliberately before firing. When
the moon rises before twilight, the flight-shooter's sport is often considerably
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FLIGHT.SHOOTING. 1 87
prolonged, as many of the fowl frequently make their flight an hour or two
later on such occasions, more especially ducks that have been constantly shot
at on their flight ; these birds sometimes defer their departure to the feeding-
marshes until long after their customary hour, during moonlight.
Wild-fowl generally fly much lower in the morning than in the evening,
sometimes only just topping the hedges, and they appear less wary of danger ;
probably this may be accounted for by their crops being at that time full and
their appetites appeased.
Captain Lacy* tells us that in some places this particular branch of sport
is carried on from boxes or tubs sunk into the ground on open plains, often
in the very heart of the best feeding grounds. From these positions the flight-
shooter fires at the birds both on the wing and as soon as they alight, whichever
appears to present the better chance. So fascinating do some men find this
occupation, and so indefatigably do they pursue it, that they are known some-
times to remain throughout the whole night in these sunk boxes, utterly re-
gardless of any evil result.
The common wild duckf is the largest of this species that falls to the gun
of the fowler. The general name duck is taken from the female, the male
being the mallard, or drake, and the young birds flappers. The last have
earned their name by their ungainly attempts to fly before their wing feathers
are sufficiently grown, which does not take place till they are eight or ten
weeks old. It was formerly the practice in many places to hunt the flappers
down, when they became an easy prey; but we are happy to say that the
Wild Bird Protection Act now prevents this shortsighted and barbarous sport.
The length of a full-grown mallard is nearly two feet, the stretch of the wings
three feet, and the weight about two pounds and a half. The head and neck
are of a fine dark glossy green colour, a white collar encircles the throat,
and below it the neck, breast, and shoulders are of a purplish brown. The
wing-spot is rich purple, with reflections of blue and green.
There are about twenty-eight species of ducks, which are seen more or
less frequently in diflferent parts of the country, and principally during the
♦ *«Thc Modem Shooter," 1842. t ^^^^ boschas.
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LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES.
winter season. The time of departure of wild ducks from the north is about
the middle of October, and continues during a part of the following month.
It is by no means unusual, in the early part of the winter, to find large
paddlings of mallards unaccompanied by ducks. It would seem to be very
imgallant on the part of the male birds to leave their companions behind
them on the voyage of migration, but so it is; the mallards leave the north
earlier than the ducks, which generally remain with their young until the
severity of the frost compels them to proceed to a more southern climate.
They fly usually in the form of a slanting line as if broken in the centre;
not unfrequently the group presents the appearance of the letter V perfectly
formed. They sometimes fly in a confused mass near low wet ground.
ji\^^\f\
Wild thuks.
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CHAPTER XXXIIL
FISHERMAN'S FIRESIDE.
** To watch the night in storms, the day in cold,
While thou liest wann at home, secure and safe;
And craves no other tribute at thy hands,
But love, fair looks, and true obedience.'*
Shakspere.
kHE interior that we have sketched is one of the few still re-
maining near the river, with the roomy chimney-comer,
massive beams, and stoutly built walls, that really defy the
winter's cold, however severe it may be. And it is severe in
the flat, marshy districts of the Upper Thames ; the long con-
tinuance of flood, which often imprisons the inmates for months
together, renders the comfort of the fireside a consideration
of unusual importance. The only one of the household who, during these
periods, stirs out at all, is the master himself, with his great boots that reach
half way up his thighs. He can thus disregard the foot or two of water that
covers the meadows near his home. While he is perhaps looking after the
wild-fowl, at this season comparatively abundant, his wife or daughter will
be busy making the nets with which, when the waters subside, the fishing
will be recommenced.
The details in the room that may be noticed as specially characteristic of
the locality are the stuffed otter over the cupboard door, the birds in cases,
and the pike's head suspended by a string. It is perhaps as well that we
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192 LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES.
have told our readers that the quadruped alluded to is an otter, for it has
been stuffed with very little reference to nature, its body showing about as
much form as a sausage. Of the two birds in our drawing, the larger one is
the goosander, and the smaller one the tern, called hereabouts the sea-swallow.
Both are sufficiently rare in these parts to make the owner proud of having
shot them ; and if willing to part with them, he is sure to be offered a good
price by some young gentleman in the neighbourhood anxious to secure them
as specimens for his collection of the wild birds. The reed-mace or cat-tail
(incorrectly called the bulrush) figures prominently in one of the old ginger-jars
that adorn the mantelpiece, and is, in its way, also suggestive of the water-side.
The old-fashioned dog-irons still retain their place on the hearth, though
it has teen found necessary to supplement them with a few bricks, to make
them suit the requirements of a modem coal fire.
With reference to cutting and drying herbs, some of which may generally
be seen suspended from the beams in the fisherman's cottage, we think the
following directions worth quoting: —
" All herbs should be cut and dried before the middle or end of September,
not so much for the sake of the herbs to be dried as for the roots left in the
ground. There are many kinds of herbs, such as mint, sage, thyme, &c., which
perish during winter if they are not cut in time to allow of the plants making
a short growth before the growing season comes to an end. Sage and thyme
invariably perish if cut at indiscriminately, so as to have the wood bare after
September. Herbs must not be dried on the haymaking principle — ix.^ not
to dry the * natur ' out of them, as I have known a northern amateur do, who
dried his herbs before a kitchen fire ! His principal reason for adopting such
an expeditious plan was that they rubbed down conveniently, and could be
bottled easily. Those who buy bottled parsley and such like should smell it
first. The best way to dry is to spread the herbs out in a dry, airy room or
loft, turning them over frequently to prevent the leaves getting mouldy. In
damp, dull weather a dry vinery or j>each house is a good place, hanging the
bundles over the wires.
"The object in all cases should be to dry them gradually, and the leaves
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FISHERMAN'S FIRESIDE.
»93
should retain their colour to a considerable extent, and adhere firmly to the
branch. When they crumple up in the hand, they have been subjected too
much to the kitchen-fire process, which destroys their virtue.
" After all have been thoroughly dried, they should be tied in small bunches
suitable for using, and hung in a dry shed."
It is said that the best state in which to gather herbs is when they first
come into flower, as at that stage their peculiar flavours have culminated.
Nets Drying,
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CHAPTER XXXIV.
APPROACHING THE FOWL WITH STALKING-HORSE.
** Stalk on, stalk on, the fowl sits/'
Shakspe&r.
y y NDER the title of " wild-fowl " are classed the various species
of wild swans, geese, and ducks, which, though often found
at sea, evince a partiality for fresh water, and habitually rear
their young in its neighbourhood. For this definition, and
for much of the information in these chapters, we are indebted
to Mr. Harting's ** Ornithology of Shakspere," to which we
have great pleasure in referring our readers. The book is
an admirable one, interesting alike to the naturalist and to the student of
Shakspere — himself a sportsman, and a close observer of the animal world.
That in the inland parts of the country wild-fowl have been much more
abundant than they are at present, we have much evidence from various sources.
The numerous allusions to the subject by mediaeval writers are the best testi-
mony on the point. Chaucer speaks of "ryding on hawking for riv^re," or
even simply " ryding from river," which a note by D. Laing Purves * explains
thus, — "Where he had been hawking after water-fowl." Froissart says that
any one engaged in this sport, ^^alloit en riviere** The falcon, or smaller
goshawk, was specially trained to the chase of the river-fowl, as may be
gathered from the couplet in Chaucer's Troiltis and Cressida: —
* Nimmo*s edition.
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APPROACHING THE FOWL WITH STALKING-HORSE. 197
** Each for his virtue holden i% full deare,
Both heroner and falconer for riv6re."
Spenser * speaks of a falcon " flown at a flush of ducks foreby the brook," and
Shakspere f of the same bird " flying at a brook," which terms are synonymous
with hawking for water- fowl. There can be little doubt that the decay of the
pastime of hawking is to be greatly attributed to the decrease of our wild-fowl ;
a fact owing to the gradual draining of marshes and embanking of rivers, as
by this means the extent of flooded land in the winter is materially limited.
The increase of population, and consequent enclosure of much waste land,
have also contributed not a little to the same result. Pennant records that
at a single driving of the fens in Lincolnshire, before the young had taken
wing, and while the old birds were in moult, one hundred and fifty dozens
have been captured. The same district, at the present time, scarcely produces
a dozen broods in the year.
The frequent mention that is made by old writers of the device of the
stalking-horse for the approach to wild-fowl, shows how much more abundant
than at present the ducks, &c., must have been. In As You Like It^ the Duke
says of Touchstone, ** He uses his folly like a stalking-horse, and under pre-
sentation of that he shoots his wit." The line "Stalk on, stalk on, the fowl
sits," occurs in Much Ado About Nothing. The following sentence is from a
sermon by Bishop Hall : % — •* Here one, if he can have no other ground, will
make religion a stalking-horse to his covetous and ambitious intentions; it
is helium Domini^ * a sacred war,' that he wages for the reducing of heretics
to the imity of the Church, or punishing their perfidiousness."
Though at the present day not likely to be referred to by a contemporary
writer as an object with which most would be acquainted, it would seem to
be better known to our American cousins. In the "Essay on Pope," by the
author of the "Biglow Papers," occurs this passage: — "Milton was willing
to peril the success of his crowning work by making the poetry of it a stalking-
horse for his theological convictions."
♦ " Faerie Queene," Bk. V., Canto ii., last stanza. f King Henry VI., Part II., Act K., Sc. i.
I Died 1656.
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198 LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES.
Mr. Harting gives a quaint description of this ancient device from the
"Gentleman's Recreation," by Grervase Markham.* It is as follows: — "Some-
time it so happeneth that the fowl are so shie there is no getting a shoot at
them without a * stalking-horse/ which must be some old jade trained up for
that purpose, who will gently, and as you will have him, walk up and down
in the water which way you please, plodding and eating on the grass that
grows therein. You must shelter yourself and gun behind his fore-shoulder,
bending your body down low by his side, and keeping his body still fiill
between you and the fowl. Being within shot, take your level from before
the fore part of the horse, shooting, as it were, between the horse's neck and
the water Now, to supply the want of a stalking-horse, which will take
up a great deal of time to instruct and make fit for this exercise, you may
make use of any piece of old canvas, which you must shape into the form of
an horse, with the head bending downwards, as if he grazed. You may stuflF
it with any light matter; and do not forget to paint it of the color of an
horse, of which the brown is the best It must be made so portable
that you may bear it with ease in one hand, moving it so as it may seem to
graze as you go."
In the "Privy Purse Expenses of King Henry VIII." are various entries
referring to stalking-horses, all of which appear to refer to the live animal;
and there is one entry relating to the stalking-ox. In Lacroix's excellent
workf occurs a representation of a stalking-horse of the date of the fifteenth
century. It is a fac-simile of one of the curious miniatures in the illuminated
manuscript of Gaston Phebus III., Count de Foix, and bears the title, " Comment
on peut porter la toile pour trahir aux bestes." We gather firom M. Lacroix's
remarks on the illustration, that the same device is in use at the present day
in France, with the sole exception that the form of a cow is now preferred
to that of a horse.
Like all contemporary authors, Gaston Phebus carefiUly directs attention
to the moral side of " la chasse** " In hunting," says he, " one avoids the sin
♦ J59S.
t ** Moeurs, usages, et costumes an Moyen Age et i T^poque de la Renaissance.*' Paris, 187 1.
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APPROACHING THE FOWL WITH STALKING-HORSE. 199
of laziness^ for he who flees the seven mortal sms, according to our faith,
should be saved; then the good hunter will be saved." An amusing, if not
strictly logical statement of the case.
That the stalking-horse was anciently employed in partridge-shooting
we have the testimony of Willughby's* ** Ornithology " (1678), referred to in
Douce's ** Illustrations of Shakspere." Idstone alludes to its use in the pursuit
of woodcock, and quotes a Mr. Dobson, who writes that they also used a
small kind of mongrel setters, bastardised through a dozen crosses, and broken
by means of starvation and hard blows. As soon as the dog was set, the operator
unslung his stalking-horse from his shoulder, and immediately commenced
walking quickly round the dog, contracting his rounds every time. He thus
describes the cock sitting terrified at the phenomenon of the stalking-horse
whirling ever around him : " He sits squatted like a toad, with eyes prepared
to take the horizon in."
The specimens we have been fortunate enough to meet with on our own
river have been very few, indeed only three altogether. Of these, one had
completely fallen into decay (its head had disappeared), and its owner seemed
careless as to whether he ever rendered it efficient again or not. He com-
plained that there were ** a dozen men worriting about with a gun for one as
used to be," and that there was not much to be done any way. The second
that we saw was placed against a hedge far from any human dwelling, and
had a very melancholy air about it, that strongly suggested " occupation gone."
It was, however, in tolerable repair, and the proprietor may have intended
to look it up before the winter, feeling confident that it would not walk itself
off, and that no one would think of stealing it. The third was that from which
we have drawn our illustrations, and is in regular use at the present time,
probably the only one in the kingdom. Mr. Harting speaks of the device
in the past tense, and it will perhaps be interesting news to him that it is
not yet quite extinct. The three specimens alluded to have been essentially
the same in construction, though differing somewhat in detail. A slight wooden
« We have consulted the only copy of this work in the British Moseom, bat failed to verify Mr. Douce*s
reference.
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200 LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES.
frame (not unlike a hurdle), with canvas tightly stretched over it, forms the
body; a head, bent down as if grazing, is rudely carved out of a flat piece
of wood ; tufts of horsehair are added for mane and tail ; and with two straight
pieces of wood for legs, the animal is, as far as appearance goes, complete.
We were assured by the maker of one (who ought to have known) that it was
"the very image of a horse." He told us that by adding horns it became "the
very image of a cow." As both he and the wild-fowl, who are the chief parties
concerned, seem satisfied with the resemblance, of course we could not presume
to criticize. Being always presented broadside to the sight of the ducks, one
fore and one hind leg are found to be sufficient. A swinging prop is added
which is used in carrying the stalking-horse, and enables it to stand by itself
when necessary. A hole in the shoulder serves for a look-out, and afterwards
for resting the barrel of the gun, which is protruded a few inches. Sometimes
a second hole is added at the animal's quarters, which permits two sportsmen
to work together, and in that case they fire simultaneously.
The sense of smell and hearing is possessed by most wild-fowl in an extra-
ordinary degree, and, except under favourable circumstances — ^favourable, that
is, to the shooter — they display what FalstaflF would call " a want of valour,"
and as soon as they become aware of the approach of the enemy, ignominiously
take to flight : to quote FalstaflF again, " There is no more valour in that Poins
than in a wild duck." The utmost caution is consequently required ; the method
usually practised being that of walking towards the fowl in a gradually narrow-
ing circle* It is a very difficult and tedious afiTair, particularly if there should
happen to be any wind blowing at the time. Any sudden motion of the horse
is sure to attract the attention of the ducks, and cause them to take flight
precipitately, so that the difficulty of manoeuvring such a mainsail of canvas
must be great indeed. Early morning is the time of the day usually chosen
for stalking, as there is then less probability of interruption. One cannot
conceive a much greater trial of patience than happens when, after some hours
spent in warily approaching the birds, a chance wayfarer accidentally firightens
them away. In the "Noctes Ambrosianae," the Shepherd is made to speak
eloquently of a mortifying experience of this sort — " It's a trial that Job would
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APPROACHING THE FOWL WITH STALKING-HORSE.
201
never have come through, without swearin — after wadin half the day through
marsh and fen, sometimes up to the houghs (hips) and sometimes to the oxters
(arm-pits), to see a dizzen or a score o' wild dyucks a' risin thegither, about
a quarter of a mile aff, wi' their outstretched bills and droopin doups, maist
unmercifully ill-made,' as ane might mustake it, for fleeing, and then making
a circle half a mile ayont the reach o' slug, gradually fa'in intil a mathematical
figure in Euclid's Elements, and vanishin, wi' the speed o' aigles, in the weather-
gleam (horizon), as if they were aff for ever to Norway or to the North Pole."
IVidgeon.
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CHAPTER XXXV.
SHOOTING WITH STALKING-HORSE.
•« With fiery burst
The unexpected death invades the flock;
Tumbling they lie, and beat the flashing pool,
Whilst those remoter from the fatal range
Of the swift shot, mount upon ▼ig'rous wing,
And wake the sleeping echoes as they fly."
«* Fowling^'' by J. ViNCKNi'.
HEN the sportsman has approached to within what he con-
siders a fair range of the fowl, the stalking-horse is planted
as firmly as possible in the ground, that it may serve as a
steady rest for the gun. Mr. Harting speaks of the legs
being spiked at the end for that purpose, but those we have
seen were not so. A firm stand was secured by means of the
swinging prop, which may be observed in a preceding illus-
tration, held in the man's hand, and materially assisting him in carrying the
animal. Two guns are frequently carried, a large duck-gun, and one "for
the cripples," that is, to give the coup de grace to any that may have been
woimded and unable to get clean away. The larger gun that we have drawn
measures in all seven feet and a half; it carries a hundred yards, which is
considered a very long shot indeed. When the ducks are fairly within range,
and are well grouped, so as to bring a sufficient number in the line of the
gun, it is usual to make a low whistling or squealing noise, which causes all
to stop feeding and to look up. Then is the instant to fire, taking care to
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SHOOTING WITH STALKING-HORSE,
205
aim well above their heads, as they see the flash before the shot reaches them,
and immediately take to the wing. Nineteen ducks at one shot, and thirty-
two widgeon and teal at another, are the highest numbers that to our knowledge
have ever been obtained. The man from whom we have made these sketches
preferred to shoot without his cap, and we have accordingly so represented
him; his reason being that he believed hair frightened the fowl less than
any cap would have done. On our remarking that he must find it bitterly
cold sometimes, he said we were not far wrong ; and he accounted for the fact
of his being somewhat prematurely grey by " the frostes getting at his hair."
Golden Plover,
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CHAPTER XXXVI .
BOAT-BUILDING.
" The form of the body in the water-birds is boat-like."
Museum of Animated Nature.
WELL-BUILT boat when in the water seems of itself to suggest
life with spontaneous movement : the reason, no doubt, being
that the beautifully curved lines which enclose its shape have
been more or less adapted from forms that Nature has be-
stowed on living animals. A boat, too, seems to have the
separate individuality of a living thing, as all those who
have had much to do with ships or boats of any kind will readily allow.
Two boats constructed as far as possible on the same model will be found to
vary in their "going" more than would be believed possible by the inexpe-
rienced : one, probably, being much more difficult to turn than the other, when
it has once taken a direction, and in a variety of ways showing what seems
almost wilfulness- This seeming inconsistency is probably owing to the extreme
subtlety of the ever-changing curves in the form, which, however carefully
they may be planned and measured, must at last depend actually upon the
eye of the builder, and are consequently subject to infinite variations, in common
with all true human work.
We will describe, as briefly as possible, the dififerent forms of boat most
in use on the Upper Thames.
In the first place, it will be as well to explain, for the benefit of those who
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BOA T'BUILDING. 209
may be more used to the sea than the river, that a puni is not the small
and dangerously light craft they know under that name, but the large, flat-
bottomed, and steady affair represented in our sketches of " Rush-cutting,"
"Otter-shooting," "Boys bathing," &c. It is propelled by a pole "shoved"
against the ground, and is no easy thing to manage in a strong current. The
short, tubby boat generally known as a dinghy (or dingey\ corresponds pretty
much to what at the seaside is called a yacht's punt. The same term, dinghy,
is also applied to a short skifif sixteen or seventeen feet in length.
The most ordinary forms of rowing-boats are the pair-oared gig and skiff,
A gig is represented in our drawings entitled "Water-lilies" and "Carrying
Over at a Weir," while reference to the "Swan-hopping" subject will show the
form of the skiff. The most easily noted difference in their shape is that a
skiff is curved between the rowlocks, which a gig is not ; and it may be noticed
that the part of the keel which terminates at the prow is not nearly so per-
pendicular in the skiff as is the case in the gig.
A boat for one person is (canoes excepted) called a sculling-^oai ; a scull
being the term for a modification of the oar of such form and size as enables
two of them to be conveniently used by the same person, one in each hand.
A randan is a combination, as it were, of a pair-oared boat and a sculling-
boat — the sculler sitting between the two rowers. This is a useful kind of
boat for travelling and general purposes, but is somewhat unsatisfactory in
appearance. A pair-oared boat is sometimes fitted with the necessary rowlocks
for double-scuUing, and a randan for three pairs of sculls. Double-sculling
has lately become very fashionable, and, when two men in a boat are not
equally matched in power, has an obvious advantage over rowing under similar
conditions.
A boat is said to be out-rigged when the rowlocks project laterally beyond
the boat. This construction, generally of light iron, is used for very narrow
boats, as otherwise there would not be sufficient leverage for oars or sculls of
the full size. A funny is an open, out-rigged scuUing-boat, having stem and
stem alike, the keel falling away in a sloping curve from either end. K whiff
resembles a funny in every point, except that the stem is upright, and not
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210 LIFE ON THE UPPER THAMES,
sloped away as the bows are. Racing-boats are invariably out-rigged, covered
over with canvas or light wood, and are made without keel; they are never
streak*-built, that is, the boards do not overlap each other, as in ordinary
boats, and are as smooth underneath as sand-paper and polishing can render
them. The name cutter is sometimes applied to this description of boat.
The charge for building the best class of rowing-boats used, some few
years ago, to be roughly estimated at a pound per foot of the length. The
growing demand for pleasure-boats, added to the increased price of materials
and the difficulty of getting good hands, has now, we understand, considerably
augmented the cost of production: probably five and twenty shillings would
be nearer to the average builder's charge at the present time.
In the Fields in answer to inquiries at different times, particulars have
been given for the home-building of a punt, to be worked with sculls, for
fishing, &c. The following measurements have been found to answer well : —
Take for the sides two i-inch planks, i6 inches wide and 14 feet long; for
the ends use 2-inch plank. Cut the stem-piece 30 inches long at bottom, and
40 inches at top ; cut the bow-piece 1 2 inches wide, 40 inches long at bottom,
and 50 inches long at top. Put these pieces in position, and securely nail the
sides to them ; this can be readily done by bringing the planks into place
by means of a rope twisted with a short lever. After the sides are thus
secured, true up the bottom edges, and plank crosswise with f-inch plank
one-eighth of an inch apart; caulk these seams with oakum or cotton, and
pitch the whole bottom, also two or three inches up the sides. By putting
in two pieces in the middle, the required distances apart, and perforating the
cross-planking between them, a "well" will be readily formed. A keel, one
inch, two Inches, or three inches deep, can then be nailed on, according to the
depth of the water where the punt is to be used : several strips of wood a few
inches apart, running from stem to stem and nailed to the bottom, strengthen
the boat very much. A movable floor, or false bottom, is found to be a great
convenience. For rowlocks, the old-fashioned plan of round thowls will be
found preferable, being valueless if lost, and the deficiency made good by any
* Clench or clinker-built are other terms used with the same meaning.
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BOAT-BUILDING.
21 I
bit of stick trimmed with the pocket*-knife. The original writer said he had
one in use for two years, and that it answered admirably, carrying six persons
comfortably ; and that it would bear a single man standing close to the side
without taking in water, would carry a waggon-load of ice, and could be
pulled for a couple of miles by a girl without difiiculty.
For some notice of the up-river barges we would refer the reader to our
first chapter. The sunk barge, which we have made the tail-piece to this
chapter on the Tiver craft, will, at the same time, not inappropriately terminate
these pen and pencil notes of Life on the Upper Thames.
Sunk Barge.
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INDEX.
Acland, Dr., 128
Agrimony, 3
Ait, Aight, 16
Alcedo Ispida, 36
Alder, 127
Alisma plantagOf 109
Alnus glutinosa, 127
Amphibious Persicaria, 93
Anas boschaSf 188
AfKU Penelope^ 201
Anguilla actttirostrisy 182
Ansdell, 89
Aphis, 17
Aquarium, 46
Ardea cinereay 175
Arrow-head, 23
♦• Art- Journal," 3
Arundo phragmites, I, 76
Arvicola amphibia^ 70
Aylesbury ducks, 84
Back-water, 95
Bacon, Lord, 175
Ballasting, 127, et seq.
Barge, i, etseq.
Barge-horses, 5, 42
"BeirsLife," 112
Beniers, J., Dame, 152
Beth-wind, 18, 185
Bind-weed, 18, 185
Boat-building, 206, et seq.
Boat-people, i, etseq.
Bobbing, 182
Bolt (osier), 20, 25
Bolter's lock, 48
Bowles, 86
Boys bathing, 112
Brassica naptis^ 102
Break, 23, 24
Briony, White, 15
Browning, Mrs., 155
Brougham, W. H., 74, 134
Burrow-hurdle, 136, et seq
Butomus umbeliatuSf 176
Caesar, 90
Calcott, 89
Caltha pctlustris, 206
Camping out, 108, et seq.
Camp-shedding, 100
Canal-boat, I
Capsella bursa pcLstoriSy 137
Cardamine pratensiSf 173
Carew, 173
Carex pendula, 28
Carex riparia^ 39
Carlisle, 169
Carrying over, 102, et seq.
Centaurea scabiosa, 57
Chamberlain's Survey, 47
Qharadrius pluvialiSy 205
Chaucer, 23, 42, 46, 161, 175, 194
Chub, 146, et seq.
Cinquefoil, Creeping, 86
City barges, 163
Clivers, 18
Cockerham*s dictionary, 19
Cock*s-foot-grass, 167
Coltsfoot, 63
Coke's Reports, 161, et seq.
Columba palumbus, 75
Comfrey, 130
Convolvulus sepium^ 18, 185
Coots, 152
Cotton, Mr. C, 149
Couching, 24
Coway Stakes, 90
Cows, 90
CraUcgus oxyacantha^ 66
Creswick, 89
Cuckoo-flower, 173
Cutter, 210
Cygnusferus, 158
Cygnus olor^ 158
D.
Dab-chick, 80, 143
Dactylis gUmteratay 167
Daniel's " Rural Sports," 163
Davis, J. P., 117
Desdemona, 6
Dewberry, 83
Dibbing for chub, 147
Dinghy, 209
Dipping-place, 72, ^/ seq,
Dobson, Mr., 199
Donne, Dr., 130
Douce, 199
Dragon-flies, 10 1
Ducks, 85
Duck, Wild, 187, 194, et seq.
Dyer, 63
Dyers* Company, 162
Eels, 182
Eel-bucks, 176
Eel-fare, 179
Esox Lucius^ 60
Etheridge, 181
Eton College, 112
Evelyn, 11
Exchequer tallies, 25, 26
Eyot, 15
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INDEX.
213
Fairfax, 169
Falcon, 194
Fall per mUe, 74
Falstaff, Sir John, 176, 200
Feeding ducks, 82
Fence months, 59
Ferry, 76, et seq,
Ffennell, Greville, 33, 127
"Field," 32, 59, 134, 167, 210
Fisherraan^s fireside, 190
Flag, Yellow, 45, 155
Flappers, 187
Flashing, 40
Flight-shooting, 184, et seq.
Floods, 69, 127, 191
Flowering rush, 1 76
Fly-fishing, 150
Folkard, H. C, 185
Foot-bridge, 139
Ford, 86, et seq.
Forget-me-^ot, 161
Francis, F., 59
Froissart, 194
Frogs, 118
Fulica atraf 152
Galium f 18
Gallinula chloropus, 140
Geese, 20
Gerarde, 3
Gig, 209
Glasgow, 10
Goosander, 192
Goose-grass, 18
Goring, 47
Gould, Mr., 143, 164
Green's "Herbal," 1 1
Grig-weels, 173, et seq.
Ground-ice, 75
Gudgeon-fishing, 130, et seq.
H.
Hall, Bishop, 197
HaU, S. C, 90
Ham, 15
Harting, Mr., 194, 198, et seq.
Haviland, Dr. 128
Hawking, 194
Hawthorn, 66
Hebcr, Bishop, 169
Henley, 163
Herbs, 192
Heron, 175
Hester, G. P., 128
Hewitt, Mr., 85
Hippuris vulgaris , 194
Hirundo riparian 48
Holt, 15
Homer, 116
Hooper-swan, 158
Hoop-nets, 57
Hop, Wild, 202
Horace, 109
Humulus lupuluSf 202
" Hundred Merry Tales," 79, 121
L
Idstone, 199
Iris pseudacorusy 45, 155
Irving, Washington, 146
Isaiah, 6
J.
Jesse, Mr., 170, 179
Job, 6
Johnson, Dr., 60, 173
Juvenal, 1 1
K.
Keats, 65, 93, 157, 173
Kingfisher, 36
Kingsley, C, 73
Knap- weed, 57
Lacroix, 198
Lacy, Captain, 187
Ladies' smock, 1 73
La Fontaine, 57
" Lancet," 3
Larch, 133
"Law Times," 181
Lechlade, 74
Leigh, C. A., i
Leucojum cestivum^ 99
Lilly, 121
Lock, 46, 50, et seq.
London stone, 5
Lowell, 42, 175, 197
Luke, 19
Lutra vulgaris^ 1 70
Lythrutn salicariOf 191
M.
Macarthy, D., 6
Mackay, Dr., 75
Magna Charta, 48
Mare's-tail, 194
Markham, Gervase, 198
Marlow, 163
Marsh-marigold, 206
Marston, 176
Martial, 11
Martins, 48
Meadow-sweet, 140
Middleborough, 19
MOfoil, 3
Milton, 15, 157
Miller, T., 19, 23, 63
Montaigne, 69
Monkey-boat, i
Moor-hen, 140
Morton, 16
Motacilla Yarrelliiy 129
" Museum of Natural History," 140,
164, 168
Myosotis palustriSf 161
N.
Nets drying, 193
Net-mending, 57
Nicking swans, 164
Nightshade, 146
Noctes Ambrosiante, 200
Nuphar lutea^ 93
NympJuea alba^ 93
O.
Ophelia, 9
Osier-cutting, 14, et seq.
Osier-peeling, 22, et seq.
Otter, 167
Outiigged boats, 209
Ovid, 102
P.
Parker's "Chronicles of the Sea-
sons," 25, 35
Peewits, 106
Pennant, 197
" Penny Cyclopaedia," 161
Perch-fishing, 98, et seq.
Phebus Gaston, 198
PiJ«^c» 31. 33» 60
Plover, Golden, 205
Podiceps minor^ 80
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214
INDEX,
Potentilla reptansy 86
Polygonum amphibium, 93
Prior, Dr., 4
Psabnt, 6
Punt, 209
Purple willow-strife, 191
Purves, D. L., 194
Q.
Querquedula crecca^ 134
R.
Rana palustris, 118
Rape, 102
Rastell's Statutes, 156
" Records of Buckinghamshire," 58
Reed, i, 76
Reed-mace, 112, 192
Rimers, 41, 180
Rods, 15
Rosa canina^ 51
Rosctti, D. G., 66
Roxburghe ballads, 1 1
Rubus casitiSf 8^
Rush, 121
Rush-bearing, 121
Rush-cutting, 120, et seq,
Ruskin, J., 158
Russian leather, 1 1
Sagittaria sagittifolia^ 25
Salix^ 9, et seq,
Salmon, 28
Scaling, Mr., 10, 16, 17, 23, 27
Scirpus lacustriSj 121
Sculls, 209
Sedge, CommoUf 39
Sedge, Pendulous, aS
Sedge-warblcrs, 96
Selwyn, Bishop, 116
Shakspere, 6, 79, 121, 181, 191, 196
Shandy, Mr., 143
Sheep-shearing, 64
Sheep-washing, 62, et seq.
Shephert|*s purse, 137
Sheridan, 127
Shooting an otter, 166
Skiff, 209
Smce, Mr., 69, 1 79*
Snipe, Jack, 12
Solanum Dulcamara, 146
Somerville, 167
Sowerby, 123
Spenser, 89, 197
Spinning, 28, et seq,
Spiraa ulmariaf 140
Staines, 5
Stalking-horse, 194, et seq.
Steamers, 52
Stiving-time, 58
Stoddart, Mr., 35
Summer snowfiake, 99
Swallows, 27
Swans, 154, et seq.
Swan-hopping, 160, ^ seq.
Swan-mark, 161, ^/ seq.
Swimming, 112
Sydney, Lord, 163
Sylvia phragmiteSy 96
Symphytum officinale^ 130
Tally, 25, 26
Tansy, 4
T.A.P.S., 69
Taunt, Mr., 105, no
Taylor, Tom, 51
T^lor (Water Poet), 45, 73, 129
Teal, 134
■Tennyson, 96
Tern, 192
Thackeray, 99
Thames ConscVvancy, 5, 40, 52, 57,
181
Thomson, 28, Ii2,*'i37
Threepenny, 19
"Times," 69 .
Tolli, 52
Towing-path, 39, 40
Trench, Dr., 86
Trent, 19, 23
Trunks, 180
Trout, 28, et seq.
Tussilago farfara^ 63
TussHago petasites^ 145
Typha latifoha, 1 1 2
U.
Upper Thames, 5
» V.
Vanellus cristatus, 106
Venice, 133
Vincent, J., 185, 202
Vintners* Company, 162
Vole, 70
W.
Walton, Izaak, 35, 99, 146
Water-lilies, 92, et seq.
Water-plantain, 109
Water-rails, in, 145
Water-rats, 18, 70
Water-wagtail, 129
Watts, Miss, 84
Weir, 28, et seq.
Whiff, 209
Widgeon, 20 r
Willow, 6, et seq.
Willughby, 199
Winching, 19
Wire noose, 59
Withy-wind, 18, 185
Witte, Mr., 27
Woodhouse, 181
Wood-pigeons, 75
Wordsworth, 83, 156
Wreck ashore, 66, et seq.
Wusser, i
Yarreh, Mr., i6j
Yarrow, 3
Younger, J., 99
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